August 06-09
Hanbury Manor, Ware, Hertfordshire, England
€1,000,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 4

Home favourite Andy Sullivan will take a commanding five-shot lead into the final round of the English Championship after a stunning 64 left him on the brink of a first win in almost five years.

The 33-year-old won three times in 2015 as he finished in Europe's top 10 and secured a Ryder Cup debut, but he has not lifted a trophy since the Portugal Masters in October of that year.

He entered the third day at Hanbury Manor with a one-shot advantage and carded two eagles, five birdies and two bogeys to move to 21 under, five shots clear of countryman Steven Brown.

"My strategy will be the same as today," he told europeantour.com. "Just control what I can do. I can't control anyone that is going to come up behind me.

"This golf course does offer a lot of birdies so I'm sure at some point someone is going to have a run at me. All I can do is control what I can do and see where we are at the end of it.

"As I was swinging it well a lot of shots came off today and I gave myself a lot of chances. It was good fun out there."

Sullivan set the tone with a remarkable drive to two feet on the par-four first for an eagle but he needed another eagle on the ninth to reclaim the lead from a charging Brandon Stone, who had six birdies before the turn.

As the South African faltered on the back nine, Brown became the nearest challenger, signing for a 66 that included him hitting the pin to be denied a hole in one on the sixth.

But Sullivan was in no mood to be caught and picked up four birdies in six holes from the 12th, with a three-putt on the 13th his only blemish on the back nine.

Stone was alongside countryman Dean Burmester and Spaniard Adrian Otaegui at 15 under, a shot clear of a group including England's Laurie Canter.