Sullivan leads as Els slumps

England’s Andy Sullivan has one local major champion hot on his heels at the halfway stage of the South African Open, but surprisingly another dropped well off the pace in Johannesburg.

Sullivan added a 70 to his opening 66 at Glendower Golf Club to reach eight under par, one shot ahead of former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and eight clear of four-time major winner Ernie Els. Tournament host Els, who has won the event five times, was just one shot behind Sullivan after an opening 67 but slumped to a second round of 77 which featured back-to-back triple bogeys around the turn.

Schwartzel, who has yet to win his national open, finished birdie, eagle, birdie to record a 69 while Sullivan – who won a trip into space for a hole-in-one during the KLM Open last year – carded four birdies and two bogeys in pursuit of his first European Tour title.

The 27-year-old from Nuneaton, who recorded four top-five results on his way to finishing 33rd on the Race to Dubai last season, said: “I thought it was going to be a really good knock on the front nine, but a few little errant drives meant the rough got its payback on me today.

“But anything in red figures (under par) is good.