England’s Andy Sullivan dodged a fine for swearing as he moved into contention for a fifth DP World Tour title in the Betfred British Masters.

Sullivan carded a second round of 68 at The Belfry for a halfway total of five under par, a shot behind clubhouse leaders Justin Rose and Antoine Rozner.

The former Ryder Cup player was one over par for the day after 11 holes, but then birdied five of the next six to boost his chances of a first win since shooting 27 under par to win the English Championship in August 2020.

“It was good. I played really well today,” the 37-year-old Midlander said.

“I missed an eight-footer on 11 which did get a massive expletive. Luckily the cameras weren’t there as I would have got fined, and then I got going after that.

“I felt the momentum and obviously having a home crowd behind you is nice, local crowd and quite a few out there today, so it’s good when you get the roars going and you get them going, you feel like your energy is up today.”

Sullivan joked that it had been a “pain in the a***” to secure tickets for all his friends and family, but defending champion Thorbjorn Olesen was certainly appreciating the support of the sizeable crowds.

“It was great from early doors this morning,” Olesen said after a 69 which left him alongside Sullivan, fellow Dane Niklas Norgaard and England’s Oliver Wilson and James Morrison on five under.

“There was a lot of people and good atmosphere the whole way around, so it’s always fun to play in front of that.

“I didn’t think it was that easy today. It was quite windy but I had some really nice up-and-downs to keep the round going which was very important. I’m pretty happy with today.”

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