Andy Sullivan cruised into a three-shot lead at the halfway point of the Golf in Dubai Championship, where the Englishman’s 17 under total came close to breaking a new European Tour record for lowest 36-hole score.
The 33-year-old already has one victory under his belt this season, having won the English Championship in August by a remarkable seven strokes with a 27 under total.
Sullivan revelled in the low-scoring conditions once again on the Fire Course at Jumeriah Golf Estates as he carded five birdies and his first eagle of the week to sign for a six-under 66 to add to his opening 61 – with his 17 under halfway total one shy of Ernie Els’s 18 under par record for the lowest first 36 holes to par set at the midway point of the 2004 Heineken Classic.
That put some daylight between the former Ryder Cup player and his English compatriots Ross Fisher and Matt Wallace, who shared second place on 14 under heading into the weekend. Scotland’s Craig Howie, German Max Schmitt and Antoine Rozner of France were all two strokes further back.
“We spoke about it to my psychologist before I went out, it’s basically just about staying patient and give yourself as many chances as possible. It is hard, I really had to work hard at staying patient, when I was three under through nine it didn’t feel as good as yesterday, but you know you’re still on the right track. I knew I was swinging it well and if I could keep giving myself opportunities I could make a few coming in. If you’d told me I’d shoot 61-66 I’d have snapped your hand off,” said Sullivan.
“My processes were really good. I felt like I went through everything I should have done, I was seeing the lines really well. Pace was a bit firm today and I hit a few a few feet by, which is why I missed on the high side a few times. I just stuck to my process, it’s the only thing I could control out there and it has been working.
“I feel like I’ve got the golf ball under some sort of control at the moment. I know what shapes I can hit and how much I can move it. It just feels really comfortable out there off the tee and into the greens, it feels like there aren’t many pins I can’t get at, which is a nice feeling to have. It didn’t happen too often in the season, so it’s nice to have that.”
Round Two Scores
127 A SULLIVAN (ENG) 61 66,
130 R FISHER (ENG) 63 67, M WALLACE (ENG) 63 67,
132 A ROZNER (FRA) 63 69, C HOWIE (SCO) 64 68, M SCHMITT (GER) 68 64,
133 O LENGDEN (SWE) 64 69, L SCALISE (ITA) 65 68, J AXELSEN (DEN) 66 67, R PARATORE (ITA) 68 65, T OLESEN (DEN) 69 64, S BROWN (ENG) 70 63,
134 M WARREN (SCO) 64 70, F LAPORTA (ITA) 65 69, R KARLBERG (SWE) 65 69, N LEMKE (SWE) 66 68, G FORREST (SCO) 66 68, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 66 68, D WILLETT (ENG) 67 67, S CROCKER (USA) 68 66,
135 M KORHONEN (FIN) 66 69, T PIETERS (BEL) 67 68, J LAGERGREN (SWE) 67 68, B RITTHAMMER (GER) 68 67, M LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 69 66,
136 J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 66 70, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 67 69, S SODERBERG (SWE) 67 69, D PERRIER (FRA) 67 69, P WARING (ENG) 68 68, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 68 68, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 68 68, B WIESBERGER (AUT) 70 66,
137 M KAYMER (GER) 66 71, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 66 71, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 68 69, J SENIOR (ENG) 68 69, E CUARTERO BLANCO (ESP) 69 68, J SMITH (ENG) 69 68, N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER) 70 67, B EVANS (ENG) 71 66, R WATTEL (FRA) 71 66,
138 P ANGLES (ESP) 65 73, C SORDET (FRA) 68 70, J FAHRBRING (SWE) 68 70, S HORSFIELD (ENG) 68 70, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 69 69, S GALLACHER (SCO) 69 69, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 70 68, H LONG (GER) 70 68, J STALTER (FRA) 70 68, A KNAPPE (GER) 70 68, N KEARNEY (IRL) 71 67, D HORSEY (ENG) 71 67, W BESSELING (NED) 73 65,
139 H LI (CHN) 67 72, J MORRISON (ENG) 67 72, M KEYSER (RSA) 70 69, A RAI (ENG) 70 69, J WRISDALE (ENG) 72 67, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 72 67,
140 T DETRY (BEL) 68 72, S TILEY (ENG) 69 71, R ROCK (ENG) 70 70,
141 R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 69 72, M KINHULT (SWE) 69 72, E WALKER (SCO) 71 70, M BALDWIN (ENG) 71 70, E FERGUSON (SCO) 72 69, P ORIOL (ESP) 73 68, M JORDAN (ENG) 73 68, A WILSON (ENG) 74 67,
142 A BJ?RK (SWE) 70 72, N FUNG (MAS) 71 71, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 72 70, S KAPUR (IND) 72 70, N M?LLER (DEN) 73 69, M KIEFFER (GER) 75 67,
143 G STAL (FRA) 69 74, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 70 73, S HEISELE (GER) 70 73, D COUPLAND (ENG) 70 73, O FISHER (ENG) 72 71, J WINTHER (DEN) 72 71, A LEVY (FRA) 72 71, B HEBERT (FRA) 73 70, D GAVINS (ENG) 73 70,
144 G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 72 72, M SCHNEIDER (GER) 72 72, R H?JGAARD (DEN) 73 71, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 74 70, G GREEN (MAS) 74 70,
145 L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 70 75, R PETERSSON (SWE) 70 75, D YOUNG (SCO) 72 73, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 73 72, L SLATTERY (ENG) 75 70,
146 J GONNET (FRA) 73 73, S HEND (AUS) 75 71, R JACQUELIN (FRA) 75 71,
147 N BERTASIO (ITA) 73 74,
148 A ARNAUS (ESP) 73 75, L JOHNSTON (SCO) 73 75,
151 G MOYNIHAN (IRL) 77 74, I ABOU EL ELA (EGY) 78 73,
152 C WOOD (ENG) 77 75,
153 A SKAIK (AM) (UAE) 76 77,
