Sullivan wins English Championship

Andy Sullivan won the English Championship on Sunday ending a five year spell without a victory and burst into tears recalling the friends who did not live to witness the moment.

The 33-year-old Englishman – a member of the losing 2016 Ryder Cup team – has seen his brother-in-law and a close friend pass away since he last won in Portugal in 2015.

On a happier note it was his first win – his fourth overall on the EPGA Tour – since his son was born two years ago.

Sullivan had one nervous moment in the final round when Spaniard Adrian Otegui got within two shots but four birdies on the back nine saw him pull away and finish on 27-under par.

Otaegui claimed second seven shots off Sullivan.

Sullivan burst into tears when he addressed his family via a laptop that was set up off the 18th green.

"I think it was just the people that have missed it for me," said Sullivan.

"My brother-in-law was only 24 and got taken from us, so it's quite emotional for him not to witness it.

"A good friend of mine has passed as well. It means a lot to do that for them.

"It's just nice for my family, to win for my little boy who's only two-years-old. It's just nice for him to see daddy being successful. He hasn't quite seen that."

Sullivan admitted he had a tougher time over the closing holes holding back the tears than worrying about Otaegui's fading challenge.

"I can't remember too much about my emotions in the first three wins but I was fighting the tears back on those last three holes," he said.

"I was really just proud of myself for what I've achieved this week."

FINAL SCORES (GBR/IRL unless stated; par-71):

-27 Andy Sullivan (England) 66 62 64 65

-20 Adrian Otaegui (Spain) 65 66 67 66

-19 Rasmus Hojgaard (Denmark) 65 67 69 64

-18 Wilco Nienaber (South Africa) 68 65 67 66

-17 Steven Brown (England) 66 65 66 70

-16 Dean Burmester (South Africa) 66 63 69 70; Min Woo Lee (Australia) 64 67 70 67; Brandon Stone (South Africa) 65 66 67 70

-15 Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 65 66 68 70; David Coupland (England) 69 65 66 69; Sean Crocker (USA) 69 67 66 67; Scott Jamieson (Scotland) 74 63 68 64; Scott Vincent (Zimbabwe) 64 70 68 67

-14 Marcus Armitage (England) 68 69 63 70; Louis De Jager (South Africa) 69 66 67 68; Jamie Donaldson (Wales) 67 64 69 70; Jason Scrivener (Australia) 64 69 66 71; Jordan L Smith (England) 68 65 67 70

-13 Ewen Ferguson (Scotland) 67 70 69 65; Ryan Fox (New Zealand) 67 67 66 71; Andrew Johnston (England) 66 65 71 69; Oscar Lengden (Sweden) 65 66 70 70; Chris Paisley (England) 68 65 70 68; Cormac Sharvin (Northern Ireland) 63 70 69 69; Connor Syme (Scotland) 65 69 68 69

-12 Aaron Cockerill (Canada) 67 68 68 69; Oliver Fisher (England) 67 68 69 68; Nicolai Hojgaard (Denmark) 67 68 69 68; Romain Langasque (France) 65 70 70 67; Robin Roussel (France) 67 69 68 68; Antoine Rozner (France) 67 69 69 67; Martin Leth Simonsen (Denmark) 65 68 66 73; Ben Stow (England) 70 67 64 71

-11 Laurie Canter (England) 64 65 70 74; Lorenzo Gagli (Italy) 68 69 69 67; Adrian Meronk (Poland) 66 69 71 67; Thorbjørn Olesen (Denmark) 66 70 70 67; Renato Paratore (Italy) 69 67 69 68; Andrea Pavan (Italy) 68 68 67 70; Richie Ramsay (Scotland) 66 68 69 70; Johannes Veerman (USA) 67 69 70 67; Marc Warren (Scotland) 68 68 67 70; Lee Westwood (England) 66 69 68 70

-10 Alejandro Cañizares (Spain) 69 64 69 72; Scott Hend (Australia) 71 66 70 67; Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) 66 68 74 66; Sihwan Kim (Korea Republic) 67 65 72 70; Aaron Rai (England) 68 69 68 69; Ricardo Santos (Portugal) 68 68 69 69; Jack Senior (England) 65 72 68 69; Toby Tree (England) 67 67 72 68; Romain Wattel (France) 65 71 70 68

-9 Joachim B. Hansen (Denmark) 69 66 70 70; Justin Harding (South Africa) 67 65 74 69; Marcel Schneider (Germany) 67 70 69 69

-8 Richard Bland (England) 65 66 73 72; Thomas Detry (Belgium) 64 72 66 74; David Drysdale (Scotland) 65 70 70 71; Bryce Easton (South Africa) 66 69 72 69; Julien Guerrier (France) 70 67 69 70

-7 Matthew Southgate (England) 67 69 69 72

-6 Richard McEvoy (England) 70 66 70 72

-5 Wil Besseling (Netherlands) 70 67 75 67; Tapio Pulkkanen (Finland) 70 67 70 72

-3 Pablo Larrazábal (Spain) 69 67 74 71; Kalle Samooja (Finland) 67 70 71 73; Lee Slattery (England) 69 67 71 74

-2 Rhys Enoch (Wales) 66 70 72 74; David Howell (England) 64 71 73 74

-1 Emilio Cuartero Blanco (Spain) 71 66 73 73

1 David Law (Scotland) 68 68 76 73; Bernd Ritthammer (Germany) 69 65 77 74; Callum Shinkwin (England) 68 67 69 81