Cormac Sharvin remains in the hunt for a maiden European Tour title but there’ll be no weekend work for Paul Dunne or Jonathan Caldwell at the inaugural English Championship.
Looking to build on a scintillating eight-under par opening round of 63, the Ardglass professional struggled to relight the fireworks on day two at Hanbury Manor Marriot Hotel and Country Club.
In ideal scoring conditions, the 27-year old could only manage a one-under par round of 70 with a mix of four birdies and three bogeys on the card. He dropped 15 places down the board for the effort but at nine-under par, only trails leader Andy Sullivan by five shots with 36-holes to play.
Such has been the standard of scoring over the first two days, the cut-mark fell at an imposing five-under par and that proved too rich for the blood of Dunne and Caldwell who struggled to find their best stuff this week with the pair missing out on even par.
Andy Sullivan took a one shot lead after round two of the English Championship, firing a nine-under par round of 62 as the sun shone on Hanbury Manor.
The Englishman is seeking his fourth European Tour win – and his first since the 2015 Portugal Masters – and he recorded the lowest round of the week to get to fourteen under par and lead a strong home presence at the third event of the UK Swing.
“It was very satisfying,” said Sullivan. “I’m really happy with my day’s work. Yesterday and today were both slow on the front nine and didn’t get into my flow with the swing and wasn’t moving it the way I wanted to. Then on the back nine I freed up a little bit and got the putter going. I holed a lot of nice putts out there. I got a little bit of luck here and there as well, which when you shoot a low round it tends to go that way.
“If you are swinging it well, you feel like any week you can compete. It’s just nice to be playing good golf and being up there regardless of which course it is on, whether it is easy or tough. This course does offer a lot of birdies sit it’s not one of those courses where you can sit back on your laurels and rest on it. You’ve got just keep going forward because you know the guys behind you will be making birdies.
“It would have been great with crowds obviously, but it is just great to be back playing tournaments at the moment and not sat on the sofa being uninspired and unemployed. It’s awesome and great to be back in the UK and to all the fans at home, I hope you are enjoying the golf and hopefully we can provide some entertainment at the weekend.”
South African Dean Burmester matched Sullivan’s back nine 28 in a round of 63 that left him a shot off the lead alongside another Englishman in Laurie Canter, who recorded a 65.
Three further home favourites in Richard Bland, Steven Brown and Andrew Johnston are among a group of nine players two shots further back on 11 under par.
Sullivan is currently tenth in the UK Swing Order of Merit after the first two events, with the top ten after the sixth and final tournament sharing an an additional £250,000 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.
Full scoring HERE
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