Defending champion Andy Sullivan has his growing band of ‘Sulli’s Army’ fans to thank in storming his way to a share of the lead on day two of the Portugal Masters.

Sullivan was in sizzling form posting a career low of a 10-under par 71 to join Scotland’s Marc Warren in a tie at the top of the board on 14-under par.

And it was some 75 supporters, each wearing distinct ‘Army’ t-shirts, that the Ryder Cup star singled out for special praise.

“I knew if I could get off to a quick start, I could get them on my side and really use them as momentum and it worked,” he said.

‘Sulli’s Army’ help carry Andy Sullivan into a share of the lead after two rounds of the Portugal Mastes.

“They were cheering me on the whole way around and to be fair, every time they turn up, I seem to play well, it might be an expensive next year for me bringing them everywhere.”

It’s not the first time Sullivan’s army of supporters have travelled on Tour as there was a strong band of followers who made their way to Dubai at the end of last year for the DP World Tour Championship and cheering home the Nuneaton-born golfer to eighth on the 2015 Race to Dubai.

Sullivan’s score is two strokes fewer than a 63 he shot in the 2014 Hassan II Trophy in Morocco.

And the Englishman has now played two rounds of the Oceanico Victoria course without dropping a shot.

“I needed to go low today to get a beat on the leaders,” he said.

“So to go out there and shoot that score is absolutely fantastic. I had thoughts of 59 coming down the stretch there, but it wasn’t to be. Fantastic to being on top of the leaderboard and give myself a chance going into the weekend.

“The game’s felt good for a long time. The putter’s just been a bit cold, and today just holed a couple of good putts out there just to get the momentum going. Only takes a couple of putts to go in and you start seeing it go in all the time. It was nice to see it going in again and just continue the good play.”