Jordan Smith storms to Portugal Masters win reaching 30-UNDER-PAR

Jordan Smith recorded his second win on the DP World Tour with an emphatic three-shot victory at the Portugal Masters.

With rounds of 62, 67, 62 and 63, Smith reached 30-under-par and a total of 254 shots which breaks the previous 72-hole winning record, albeit it an unofficial new mark due to preferred lies, previously held by Thaworn Wiratchant and Garrick Higgo.

The Englishman, who'd been knocking on the door in 2022 for his second win on the DP World Tour, entered the final round with a two-shot lead and he started with a birdie on the 4th and an eagle on the 5th.

Five birdies and eight pars later, Smith left Gavin Green behind who finished on 27-under with a final-round 64. His first win on Tour came at the Porsche European Open in 2017.

With his victory at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course in Vilamoura, Smith moved nine places up to fifth in the DP World Tour Rankings with just the Nedbank Golf Challenge left before the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

A recovery shot to remember @Jsmithgolf makes par from the dirt to maintain his three-shot lead.#PortugalMasters pic.twitter.com/wkSXKFvFAE

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 30, 2022

Despite making 27 birdies and three eagles throughout the week, Smith made an incredible up-and-down on the 11th hole on Sunday after he sent a drive sailing to the right.

This was an important par among so many good scores which helped him maintain a three-shot lead. He then added three more birdies to make DP World Tour history.

"That pitch from 100 yards from under that tree on 11 and to get up and down and hit it to five foot was a massive momentum part of the round," a tearful Smith said.

"I'm just really happy with how I've done this year - I need to thank Matt Johns for that (for the new putter and grip). It's just feeling really good and it's been a really good year, so I'm really happy.

"There's a lot of pressure that I put on myself and people put on me as well, but yeah, it's just nice to finally get that second win."

Earlier this month, Jordan Smith told GolfMagic of his aspirations to play for Europe at the Ryder Cup. He has now given his chances of being part of Luke Donald's side a significant boost 

Fellow Englishman Eddie Pepperell kept up his solid form on Tour with another outright fourth-place finish on 21-under-par, while Sebastian Heisele finished in tied fifth place on what was his final appearance on Tour.

An emotional victory for @Jsmithgolf #PortugalMasters pic.twitter.com/45XlWAb0vq

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 30, 2022

Portugal Masters - Final leaderboard

-30 J Smith

-27 G Green

-22 T Pulkkanen

-21 E Pepperell

-19 H Long, S Heisele

-18 J Luiten