The Debrief: 2020 English Championship

Everything you need to know from this week's tournament at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & CC.

Andy Sullivan ended a long wait for a fourth European Tour title as he won the 2020 English Championship by seven shots.

Here, we take a look at the highlights from the latest leg of the UK Swing.

Emotional Sully ends wait

It was back in 2015 when the last of Sullivan's three previous European Tour titles came at the Portugal Masters. Since then, the Englishman has had to deal with the deaths of two people close to him, while he had also welcomed his son into the world. So when he realised that his almost five-year wait for a victory was coming to an end, he got a bit emotional. He said: "I think it was just the people that have missed this win, my brother-in-law was only 24 and he was taken from us so it’s quite emotional for him not to witness it. It means quite a lot for me to do it for him today, and a good friend of mine has passed as well. It’s nice for my family, to win for my little boy who is only two years old, it’s just nice for him to see Daddy being successful, he hasn’t quite seen that yet. Also for me, I can’t remember too much about my emotions in the first three wins but I was fighting the tears back today down the last three holes."

Otaegui charge made Sully sweat

Sullivan went into the final round with a comfortable six shot margin and, despite an eagle at the second, he had his lead trimmed to just two after Adrian Otaegui had gone through 12 holes. But Sullivan matched the Spaniard's birdie on that hole and picked up further gains on the 14th, 15th and 18th to record a resounding seven shot triumph. "It didn’t feel like a seven shot lead out there," Sullivan admitted. "I got on 12 and see that Adrian was two shots behind and breathing down my neck, and it was just nice that I could keep pressing on with the putter there – it just got hot. It feels like the weight of the world is lifted off my shoulders that I’m back in the winner’s circle."

Rasmus rises to the top again

Rasmus Højgaard has enjoyed a brilliant return to golf so far and moved second on the UK Swing Order of Merit with his latest impressive showing. Starting the day 16th, the AFRASIA BANK Mauritius Open champion started with a run of three successive birdies and went on to post a flawless 64. It earned him outright third - a shot behind Otaegui - and follows a second at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood and last week's tied sixth at the Hero Open. The top ten on the UK Swing Order of Merit will qualify for the U.S. Open Championship and the 19-year-old Dane is almost assured of his spot. He said: "That U.S. Open spot is obviously what I really want right now. I think I’ve made my ticket to the U.S. Open now, I’m very happy."

Threesy does it

Dean Burmester finished his second round with a remarkable eight threes in a row. He made a par four on the tenth but after a par three on the 11th, he may have been using his marking pencil from muscle memory, eagling the par five 12th, birdieing the remaining five par fours and matching the card on the par three 16th. "I enjoyed it, especially on the back nine," he said. "Finished with eight threes in a row, it was interesting. Laurie (Carter) was laughing on the last, he was willing it in for another three. It was good fun." The South African almost finished in the top five - but this shot meant he missed out by one shot.

Beefy boxing

Andrew Johnston revealed that boxing helped him cope with the return of competitive golf. 'Beef' withdrew from the opening event of the UK Swing, admitting he initially struggled with the new tournament protocols. He made his welcome return at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & CC, finishing in the top 20, and he said he was enjoying life on Tour once more. "A couple of weeks ago I just wasn’t prepared for it," he said. "I thought it was going to be quite a bit different and I came in and it sort of just got to me, it was like an overload and I really struggled. I took a week to kind of reflect on it, and think about heading back in to play because I want to play and I was a lot more prepared. I think the best thing I’ve done in between that gap is I started boxing again. I’ve been a couple times in that break and it’s been so good for my head, really. It’s just bag work, pad work, but I say I want to learn straight off the basics, I don’t care if I have to do something a hundred times, I just want the technique and learn more about boxing because I love it."