Sullivan watched as the ball flew the green on Kenilworth's toughest par three and were it not for a stand of pines protecting the next tee and the OOB fence he knew he was in trouble.

'It hit the middle of a trunk and came back', laughed Sullivan.

That was a bogey to follow a birdie at the 1st so he was back to five under but not finished - two more birdies followed at the 6th and 9th for a 64 and a new course record, and a five shot lead.

Next on the Leaderboard was a professional and a debutant at the Open, a member of the Cheese clan of golfers,very good ones and the best Tony a member of the Staffordshire 1st team

His 69, a first ever round at Kenilworth as he had missed out on a praCtice round, was one shot better than a whole hatful of players, most of them professionals including past Boys Champion Jak Hamblett.

Jak would have 12 birdies on the day and end up with a pair of 70s, a total two under par. It was the Hamblett of old, very much the same swing and definitely the original putting stroke which won many trophies.

Last year's champion (joint - with Cameron Carke) Andy Jones matched Hamblett's pair and walked away from the course muttering about a 'day of three putts'.

Both would feature in a tie for third, for the professional's prize fund, along with Kenilworth's own in James Crampton who, playing with Andy Sullivan, fired a 68 second round. The hosts' top amateur was in similar second round form with Elliott Forbes carding a 69 for an amateur Top 5 voucher.

That left finding a possible challenge to Sullivan, either from Cheese or another?

Rob Browning was one of the morning 70s but he found trouble at the 16th in the afternoon and admitted he had been working to hard and found little time to practice. He did come back in style for a 71 for -1.

There was another professional featuring, Will Weidner from Ingon Manor. Weidner opened with another of those 70s and followed it with a 69.

It has been a week of success for another debutant at the Open - having partnered Jamie Hillier to the PGA Fourball Championships on Monday at Coventry Hearsall - they won in a play-off when Hillier holed-in-one at the 10th!

That was good enough for runner-up spot for the professionals section. Cheese was though taking the winners cheque with a seven birdie 68, a round only spoilt by a 5 at the 17th - 'I got a bit twitchy'.

Sullivan made a hash of the 2nd again and only turned in 35, level par but he set Kenilworth on fire on a a glorious day with three birdies in a row from the 11th to 13th and added another at the 16th - for a 67 and a record low score for the Open itself. His nearest Amateur Challenger was his amateur tour caddie, Chris Dougill.

Chris played with Hamblett and his morning 72 put him two shots back from Jak but he beat him by two in the afternoon with a five birdie 68,a round that comes on a wave of form a result of some very bad luck -

'Since my cubs were stolen, along with Andy's at the Lee Westwood, I've thought why bother with practice or even playing much!'

It might be Chis has discovered a way to relax and produce some outstanding golf - he was a vital part of the come-back in the crucial match against Worcestershire last Sunday.

Sullivan was though unstoppable and he showed the professionals one key thing - very few mistakes.

Hamblett and Cheese got close to Sullivan's 14 birdie 'count' but it could have been much easier as Kenilworth was set up with 18 pins that could cope with any wet weather, and that flown green stopped some spectacular and incredible golf -

'I really was on fire - if the second had not happened I think I could have had a 59.'

He has two more individual events here in the UK to finish an outstanding season - this weekend's Club Champion of Champions for the region at Ladbrook and then next weekend the County Champion of Champions at Woodhall Spa. Then there is the Turkish Amateur for some Autumn Sun, a well deserved reward for 11 under par golf!

Kenilworth was in excellent condition and the prizes were presented by their Captain Richard Joyce

For the Gross results CLICK HERE

For the aggregate results of the Open and the Amateur to decide the TP Cooke CLICK HERE