Andy Sullivan scores third European Tour win of season in Portugal Masters


FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Andy Sullivan from Nuneaton became the first man to win three European Tour events this season as he claimed a stunning wire-to-wire victory at the Portugal Masters.
The Englishman, pictured with the championship trophyt by courtesy of Getty Images (c) came into the final round with a five- shot lead and a 66 extended that to nine shots as he finished on 23 under 261 and saw off the challenge of playing partner Chris Wood who finished on 270.
Overnight rain and a threat of storms had led to the shotgun start being delayed by two hours at Oceånico Victoria Golf Club, Vilamoura but Sullivan was unfazed as he added to The South African Open Championship Hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni and the Joburg Open titles he won earlier in the year.
The 28 year old became the fifth wire-to-wire winner of the season and blew away the record winning margin at the event which had been Alexander Levy's three shot victory last year.
The win moves Sullivan into the top 50 of the World Rankings and means he has three wins in 23 events after not claiming a victory in his first 84 on the European Tour.
After two solid pars to start, Sullivan left himself a testing six-footer on the third but he found the middle of the cup as playing partners Eduardo de la Riva and Wood both dropped shots to see his lead extended to six shots.
A curling 25-foot putt on the fourth then moved Sullivan to 19 under and when he found the fifth green in two and left his eagle putt right next to the hole, it was back-to-back birdies.
De la Riva also made a birdie to get to 13 under but nobody was able to put any pressure on the leader whose cushion was seven shots.
The Spaniard picked up another shot on the tricky seventh - which had yielded just 25 birdies over the first three days - but he gave it back on the ninth and Sullivan remained comfortable at the turn.
De la Riva dropped further shots on the tenth and 12th to end his chances while back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th moved Wood to 14 under.The 12th was proving gettable in the final round and Jorge Campillo made an eagle to get to 14 under while Trevor Fisher Jnr had also moved into a share of second with five birdies.
The lead was briefly extended to seven shots courtesy of Sullivan's third birdie of the day on the 14th but Campillo ahead on the 15th made a gain of his own to move into second spot all alone at 15 under.
Fisher Jnr got himself back into a share as he picked up a shot on the 14th and the battle now was very much about who would be runner-up with Sullivan picking up two pars on the 15th and 16th to maintain his lead.
Campillo then found the water to record a double bogey on the 17th but Fisher Jnr lost two shots himself on the 15th and all of a sudden Sullivan's lead was up to seven shots with Wood the nearest challenger.
Birdies on the 17th and 18th then moved the leader to 23 under as a bogey on the last from De la Riva, who had birdied the 13th, 15th and 17th handed Wood second place.
"Apprehensive to start, I was a little bit edgy and I think that putt on four really settled me down and from there onwards I just felt really comfortable all the way round," Sullivan added,
"I didn't really feel like I took that many risks until the end there and I just thought I'd play within myself and let them try and catch me.
"I'm not going to make any mistakes, and I didn't today.
"Bogey free is unbelievable, it's just what I wanted to do and it's just incredible."
De la Riva finished on 13 under alongside Fisher Jnr and Anthony Wall who recorded six birdies and a bogey in a 66.
Campillo followed his double on the 17th with a bogey on the last to drop into the group at 12 under which also contained Belgian Thomas Pieters, who closed with a 69, and Scotsman Craig Lee.
Lee came into the week 120th in the Race to Dubai but rounds of 67-71-69-65 gave him a share of sixth and a massive boost as the race to get into the top 110 comes down to its final event next week in Hong Kong.
There were seven players in a share of ninth at 11 under with Bernd Ritthammer finishing with a 65 to join Lucas Bjerregaard, Edouard Espana, Stephen Gallacher, Mikko Korhonen, Garth Mulroy and Robert Rock.
Anders Hansen was playing in his 419th and final event on the European Tour and the Dane shot a closing 69 to finish on eight under.
FINAL TOTALS
Par 284 (4x71)
 261 A Sullivan (Eng) 64 64 67 66 (333,330 euros)
 270 C Wood  (Eng) 68 69 65 68 (222,22- euros)
 271 E De La Riva  (Esp) 65 67 68 71, A Wall (Eng) 69 64 72 66, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 66 68 70 67 (103,330 euros each)
 272 T Pieters  (Bel) 65 66 72 69, J Campillo (Esp) 66 69 67 70, C Lee (Sco) 67 71 69 65 (60,000 euros each)
 273 E Espana (Fra) 70 67 69 67, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 72 69 66 66, S Gallacher (Sco) 67 71 68 67, B Ritthammer (Ger) 69 66 73 65, R Rock (Eng) 70 67 70 66, M Korhonen (Fin) 69 69 69 66, G Mulroy (RSA) 69 67 70 67 (35,547 euros each),
 274 B Wiesberger  (Aut) 68 64 72 70, D Drysdale (Sco) 65 71 69 69 (27,600 euros each),
 275 A Quiros  (Esp) 67 68 71 69, R Green (Aus) 68 70 73 64, H Otto (RSA) 70 65 69 71, N Colsaerts  (Bel) 64 71 68 72,
 276 A Hansen (Den) 68 67 72 69, R Wattel  (Fra) 67 71 73 65, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 69 64 72 71,
 277 T Bjørn (Den) 67 67 70 73, R Bland (Eng) 71 70 72 64, P Maddy (Eng) 66 69 74 68, T Aiken (RSA) 65 70 72 70,
 278 J Kruger (RSA) 72 69 69 68, D McGrane (Irl) 67 72 73 66,
 279 P Harrington (Irl) 70 70 70 69, B Hebert  (Fra) 75 64 69 71, J Van Zyl (RSA) 71 67 70 71, J Singh (Ind) 69 66 73 71, R Gouveia (Por) 71 68 72 68, D Fichardt (RSA) 68 70 74 67,
 280 S Kjeldsen (Den) 68 66 74 72, A Otaegui  (Esp) 67 67 74 72, L Jensen (Den) 73 67 71 69, C Paisley  (Eng) 67 67 76 70, C Doak (Sco) 69 69 70 72, M Warren (Sco) 71 68 75 66, J Walters (RSA) 71 68 72 69 (13,000 euros each).
 281 G Storm  (Eng) 68 70 73 70, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 69 74 68, A Cañizares  (Esp) 70 69 76 66, A Johnston (Eng) 70 69 70 72, S Brown (Eng) 73 68 71 69, M Kieffer (Ger) 71 70 72 68,
 282 T Olesen (Den) 71 70 71 70, M Kaymer (Ger) 70 70 74 68, O Fisher  (Eng) 69 69 72 72,
 283 S Jamieson  (Sco) 67 68 75 73, J Carlsson  (Swe) 66 73 75 69, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 68 68 75 72, B Evans  (Eng) 73 68 75 67 (7,200 euros each),
 284 D Brooks (Eng) 68 69 74 73, B Stow (Eng) 69 69 72 74, S Hutsby  (Eng) 72 68 71 73, J Scrivener (Aus) 70 69 78 67, R Paratore (Ita) 70 71 75 68, R Gonzalez (Arg) 70 70 75 69, M Crespi  (Ita) 68 73 77 66,
 285 K Broberg (Swe) 66 70 76 73, D Gaunt (Aus) 72 69 72 72, P Lawrie (Sco) 71 70 74 70, G Havret  (Fra) 71 70 75 69 (4.500 euros each)
 287 P Dunne (Irl) 68 72 77 70, T Silva (am) (Por) 71 68 73 75,
 288 M Lundberg (Swe) 70 69 78 71,
 289 K Phelan (Irl) 70 71 76 72,