Andy Sullivan was an impressive 7-shot winner of the English Championship as the former Ryder Cup player claiming his fourth European Tour title.
The Englishman held the lead in the UK Swing’s third event since day two, when he signed for a course-record 62, and never relinquished his place at the summit. A third round 64 handed the 34-year-old a five-stroke advantage heading into the final day on Sunday at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel and Country Club, and he never let up on the final day.
Sullivan said of his first European Tour title win in five years:
“I’m proud of myself. I wasn’t quite stuck in the doldrums but it just hasn’t quite happened for me since those three wins 2015 and it feels like a weight off my shoulders now, and I think it told out there today.
“I never really felt comfortable out on the golf course all day, I found it quite a battle the whole way around until I started dropping a couple of putts on the back nine and my lead started increasing. I was always on guard today, I knew Adrian was there breathing down my neck.”
An eagle three at the par five second hole quashed the early hopes of a determined chasing pack which included two-time European Tour winner Adrian Otaegui from Spain, whose five under front nine made him a leading contender for an upset.
Otaegui got to within two shots of the leader with six holes to play, but Sullivan picked up four shots on the way home to claim the victory with a six under par 65 and a 27 under total, winning by seven shots from Otaegui on 20 under par.
Denmark’s Rasmus Højgaard was one shot further back in third, with South African Wilco Nienaber on 18 under par and England’s Steven Brown on 17 under.
Co. Down golfer Cormac Sharvin couldn’t maintain the heroics of his opening round of 63. The Ardglass man shot a second round 70 on Friday and carded two rounds of 69 over the weekend for a four-round score of 271, leaving him 14 shots behind the winner.
Sullivan moves from 42nd to 15th in the Race to Dubai Rankings as a result of the win. It also moved him to the top of the UK Swing Order of Merit after three events, with the top ten after the sixth and final tournament sharing an additional £250,000 from the European Tour’s Golf for Good initiative, to donate to the charity of their choice. The top ten not otherwise exempt after the fifth event will also gain spots in the U.S Open at Winged Foot next month.
Round Four Scores
257 A SULLIVAN (ENG) 66 62 64 65,
264 A OTAEGUI (ESP) 65 66 67 66,
265 R HOJGAARD (DEN) 65 67 69 64,
266 W NIENABER (RSA) 68 65 67 66,
267 S BROWN (ENG) 66 65 66 70,
268 D BURMESTER (RSA) 66 63 69 70, B STONE (RSA) 65 66 67 70, M LEE (AUS) 64 67 70 67,
269 N COLSAERTS (BEL) 65 66 68 70, D COUPLAND (ENG) 69 65 66 69, S VINCENT (ZIM) 64 70 68 67, S CROCKER (USA) 69 67 66 67, S JAMIESON (SCO) 74 63 68 64,
270 J SCRIVENER (AUS) 64 69 66 71, J DONALDSON (WAL) 67 64 69 70, J SMITH (ENG) 68 65 67 70, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 68 69 63 70, L DE JAGER (RSA) 69 66 67 68,
271 R FOX (NZL) 67 67 66 71, O LENGDEN (SWE) 65 66 70 70, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 66 65 71 69, C SHARVIN (NIR) 63 70 69 69, C SYME (SCO) 65 69 68 69, C PAISLEY (ENG) 68 65 70 68, E FERGUSON (SCO) 67 70 69 65,
272 M SIMONSEN (DEN) 65 68 66 73, B STOW (ENG) 70 67 64 71, A COCKERILL (CAN) 67 68 68 69, N HOJGAARD (DEN) 67 68 69 68, O FISHER (ENG) 67 68 69 68, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 67 69 68 68, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 65 70 70 67, A ROZNER (FRA) 67 69 69 67,
273 L CANTER (ENG) 64 65 70 74, R RAMSAY (SCO) 66 68 69 70, L WESTWOOD (ENG) 66 69 68 70, M WARREN (SCO) 68 68 67 70, A PAVAN (ITA) 68 68 67 70, R PARATORE (ITA) 69 67 69 68, A MERONK (POL) 66 69 71 67, T OLESEN (DEN) 66 70 70 67, J VEERMAN (USA) 67 69 70 67, L GAGLI (ITA) 68 69 69 67,
274 A CANIZARES (ESP) 69 64 69 72, S KIM (USA) 67 65 72 70, R SANTOS (POR) 68 68 69 69, J SENIOR (ENG) 65 72 68 69, A RAI (ENG) 68 69 68 69, T TREE (ENG) 67 67 72 68, R WATTEL (FRA) 65 71 70 68, S HEND (AUS) 71 66 70 67, M JIMINEZ (ESP) 66 68 74 66,
275 J HANSEN (DEN) 69 66 70 70, J HARDING (RSA) 67 65 74 69, M SCHNEIDER (GER) 67 70 69 69,
276 T DETRY (BEL) 64 72 66 74, R BLAND (ENG) 65 66 73 72, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 65 70 70 71, J GUERRIER (FRA) 70 67 69 70, B EASTON (RSA) 66 69 72 69,
277 M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 67 69 69 72,
278 R MCEVOY (ENG) 70 66 70 72,
279 T PULKKANEN (FIN) 70 67 70 72, W BESSELING (NED) 70 67 75 67,
281 L SLATTERY (ENG) 69 67 71 74, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 67 70 71 73, P LARRAZABAL (ESP) 69 67 74 71,
282 D HOWELL (ENG) 64 71 73 74, R ENOCH (WAL) 66 70 72 74,
283 E CUARTERO BLANCO (ESP) 71 66 73 73,
285 C SHINKWIN (ENG) 68 67 69 81, B RITTHAMMER (GER) 69 65 77 74, D LAW (SCO) 68 68 76 73.
