JORDAN Smith hopes that making his first cut on the European Tour will help him feel at home amongst the continent’s premier golfers.

Derry Hill’s Smith earned his 2017 card by virtue of finishing top of the second tier Challenge Tour’s order of merit this year.

He made his debut alongside Europe’s elite players at the Australian PGA Championship in the first week of December but it proved a baptism of fire as he failed to qualify for the weekend’s final two rounds.

However, Bowood player Smith put that right at last week’s UBS Hong Kong Open by bouncing back from his Australian disappointment to finish in a tie for 36th place, collecting more than 12,500 Euros for his efforts.

The 24-year-old’s performance was built on a fine four-under first round of 66 at Hong Kong Golf Club before further rounds of 73, 70 and 69 eventually saw him finish two-under for the tournament.

“It wasn’t quite the golf that I wanted to play in Australia and Hong Kong but it was just nice to make the cut and get that first one under my belt,” said Smith.

“I have got that out of the way now so it’s good to start feeling settled on the Tour and now it’s about getting ready for the new year.

“The set-up of the course was the main difference that I noticed. They are lot tougher and the fields are obviously going to be tougher as well with the class of the guys that are playing.

“And there are going to be more cameras around and more people watching as well, so that’s just something that I will get used to with experience.”

Smith is currently enjoying some down time as part of the European Tour’s winter break but he will return to action at the first event of the new year, the BMW SA Open, in Gauteng, South Africa, in the second week of January.