Michael Sullivan held onto his 14th spot in the AGB Tour rankings Sunday by halving a match with Josh Ashline, who was 1-down with one to play at Moose Run’s Hill Course.

“I love playing golf with Michael Sullivan,” Ashline said. “I feel like we’re both very similar in our games and halving matches kinda proves that to me.”

Ashline (No. 21), who lost a close match to Sullivan early in the summer, nearly rolled in a 40-foot eagle putt at the par-5 13th hole, settling for a tap-in birdie that won him the hole and put him 1-up. Ashline appeared to be throwing his lead away at the 14th hole after leaving his approach in a front bunker and missing the green long with his ensuing sand shot. Making the errors more costly was Sullivan’s fantastic approach shot to eight feet at the par-3.  Ever the competitor, Ashline chipped in from 50 feet to save par and force Sullivan to make the birdie putt, which he did to win the hole.

“It was a heart-breaker,” Ashline said. “I had a squirrely lie on the next hole and couldn’t convert a long par putt.”

Ashline’s bogey on 15 meant Sullivan had won two straight holes and led 1-up. Both players parred the 16th after monster drives on the par-4, then both recorded bogeys at the par-4 17th. Sullivan lost his drive left on the 18th, leading to a double bogey to lose the hole and close out a round in which scoring wasn’t easy for anyone.

“I don’t play the Hill course much, but it is fun,” Ashline said.

The course played firm Sunday, making it difficult to keep approach shots from bouncing over the greens. Such hard caroms led Ashline to adopt the strategy of playing his approach shots short on purpose, only to watch some of those shots stay short of the green.

“Gets irritating really quick, but it really helps that putt average, though; making a bunch of up-and-downs,” Ashline said.