JORDAN Smith hopes hitting form at the right time can boost his chances of success at the BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth later this month.

The Derry Hill ace finished this week’s China Open in joint third with Spain’s Jorge Campillo and England’s Matt Wallace, pocketing a cool £118,000.

Two opening rounds of three-under ensured Smith made the cut for the final two days of play in Asia and a round of two-under on day three set the 25-year-old up nicely entering the last 18 holes.

But even Smith was surprised when a round of eight-under – featuring eight birdies – rocketed him briefly top of the leaderboard and eventually third, his best European Tour result this season.

The result proved timely for Smith, who is now eyeing further success closer to home.

He said: “It’s nice to get a good week under my belt. I’ve not had the best of starts (to the season).

“The odd bounce here and putt there has cost me, but it’s nice to get a positive result with big events on the horizon.

“It’s a massive boost of confidence.

“I’ve missed a few cuts this year. I think that was down to me putting too much pressure on myself to do well because I had a good year last year.

“Now I want to push on and do that bit better for the big events coming up.”

Smith will take to the Wentworth turf after a successful four days last year, which saw him place joint 40th with a level-par finish.

Playing closer to home will provide last season's Porsche European Open champion with a home advantage as looks forward to welcoming friends and family to watch him play at the Surrey venue.

“I’ve got a lot of support coming down to watch and I did well down there last year so it’d be nice to have a good result there,” said Smith.

“Then there’s the US Open after that and the US PGA Championship later in the year.

“Those are the three big events for me.

“They get massive crowds at Wentworth every year, last year was amazing with the weather.

“It was a cool atmosphere, that’s why I’m looking forward to going back there this year.”

Smith turned professional four years ago and was granted a place on the European Tour in 2017 after topping the Challenge Tour Order of Merit the year previous.

He described each year as a major learning curve though, adding travelling is a logistical challenge he’s only starting to get used to.

“This year I know how to cope with being away and the travelling side of things a bit more,” said Smith, who is entered in the Belgian Knockout event in Antwerp a week prior to Wentworth.

“It’s a similar schedule with similar events. I’m getting the hang of it, and I’m enjoying it.

“The maximum I try to be away for is four weeks, after that it’s a bit too much.

“Small things like getting the food you like can make a difference.

“They tend to cater for us as well, we get looked after well.”