JORDAN Smith was amongst the earliest starters at the penultimate event on this year’s European Tour schedule when he teed off in the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa on Thursday.

Wiltshire golfer Smith got his first round under way at 7am GMT at Gary Player Golf Club in Sun City, teeing off at the 10th hole alongside fellow Englishman Tom Lewis and Australia’s Scott Hend.

The tournament is the second of three that bring the annual Race To Dubai to a close and feature the top 50 players in this season’s Tour rankings.

Bowood player Smith – who is currently 45th in the Race To Dubai – put together four solid if unspectacular rounds at last week’s Turkish Airlines Open.

He finished in a tie for 46th place on six-under in Antalya for a prize pot of just under 24,000 Euros.

England’s Tyrrell Hatton took victory in a play-off after six players finished on 20-under.

After this week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge, the Tour moves onto the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai where the 2019 Race To Dubai champion will be crowned.