JORDAN Smith is hoping he has clicked back into gear at just the right time as he attempts to conclude a stellar debut season on the European Tour in the lucrative finale to the 2017 campaign.

The Derry Hill player, already a winner on the circuit this season, carded a blistering eight-under-par 63 on the final of the Italian Open on Sunday to record his best tournament finish since finishing tied ninth at August’s US PGA Championship, his first major championship appearance.

It ended a recent dip in form for the 24 year old, who is based out of Bowood Golf & Country Club near Calne, who had missed successive cuts at the European Masters, British Masters and Dunhill Links Championship before ending that run at Golf Club Milano.

“I needed a good finish to be fair. It wasn’t quite the first three rounds I was hoping for and that last round made up for it a little bit,’’ said Smith.

“I was hitting it pretty good the first two days, it’s just the putts were not dropping and on the Saturday I didn’t hit it particularly well but just battled.

“I was three over (par) through eight and got it back to one under so that was a good grind.

“Then on the last day it all came together really. There were no pressures and no real expectations. I was enjoying myself and managed to pull it off nicely.’’ His European Open victory in Germany in July, plus seven other top-20 finishes already safely in the bank, Smith is secure inside the top 20 of the tour’s Race to Dubai order of merit and will play in the four season-ending events beginning with the WGC-HSBC Champions event in China next week and concluding with the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in the middle of next month.

The Wiltshire man has played in 27 events to date - the most of any player in the top 30 of the Race to Dubai - but hopes he has rediscovered previous magic as he chases a couple of further goals before the 2017 campaign draws to a close.

“It’s been a bit of a struggle. I missed three cuts, but there have been a few swing changes and I’ve just been working on getting back to form,’’ he added.

“It seems to be there or thereabouts now. I’ve got a good week off just to see Simon (Shanks, his coach at Bowood) for a few days and then a nice run of events.

“It (the number of events) might have been one of the factors. It was the combination of playing quite a lot and perhaps putting a bit too much pressure on myself to do well. But it’s all coming together now.’’