Refresher pays off for O’Sullivan

CORK’S Denis O’Sullivan embarked on his quest for a seventh title on the European Seniors Tour at Collingtree Park in Northampton yesterday.

He shot a solid one under par 71 to trail joint leaders, Englishman Gordon Townhill and Italian Giuseppe Cali by five shots.

O’Sullivan attributed his steady play to a lesson from his coach Nick Bradley, at the Buckinghamshire Golf club earlier in the week.

“I saw Nick before I won in Barbados, so I felt I should go for a refresher and see if it made a difference. After working with him, I felt I was getting through the ball better today,” he said.

It was a frustrating opening day for former Ryder Cup player, Eamonn Darcy, who made just one solitary birdie and three bogeys in a two over par 74.

Meanwhile England’s James Heath outshone all of his more experienced counterparts to take a three-shot lead after the second round of the Aa St Omer Open in northern France.

The 22-year-old, mentored and managed by six-time major winner Nick Faldo, carded a flawless round of 66 to race to the top of the leaderboard.

Shooting the best score of the week so far catapulted Heath from joint 16th into the outright lead as yesterday’s seven joint leaders failed to capitalise on their good starts.