A REMARKABLE performance at the Italian Open saw Tynedale’s golfing star come back from the brink to retain his place on the prestigious European Tour.

Out of the pecking order heading into the weekend’s tournament, a final score of -18 saw him finish tied third and jumped him up to 72nd in the Race to Dubai rankings, with a top 110 position needed to keep his card.

Failing to make the cut in the Omega European Masters in Switzerland a couple of weeks ago put his position in doubt, but he kept his cool despite pressure from the big boys, such as Tour leader Danny Willett and tournament champion Francesco Molinari with some excellent golf.

Paisley, who grew up playing golf at his local course in Stocksfield, said: “I’m obviously delighted at locking up my card. There were certainly a few doubts at times, but deep down I knew I had it in me to do enough.

“You learn as a golfer that things can change in an instant. I’ve been playing decent golf for a while and I’ve just been waiting for it all to click, which it did last weekend.

“The margins are so small at this level. Two weeks ago in Switzerland I payed awful and missed the cut but, with a few tweaks and a bit more focus, I finished third this week.

“It’s crazy really, but that the nature of the game!”

Paisley, who will play on the European Tour for a third year running next year, led going into round three after a fantastic second round of 63, following on from his opening round of 68.

He went out with Masters champion Willett in round three, and continued to keep his nerve by carding rounds of 69 and 68 to finish -18, and just four strokes off Molinari.

Paisley said: “Getting into the lead early in a tournament is not the difficult part, handling the pressure once you are there is the key.

“I knew my game was good enough to win, but more importantly I felt so focused and as though I was in my own little bubble, which is so important in those situations.

“I hit the ball great all week but the putter cooled off a bit on the weekend. If some more had dropped, I could have certainly won.

“I played with Danny Willett in round three and Molinari was up there too, and I absolutely loved it.

“It’s easy to shy away in that situation but I was buzzing and really wanted to make a charge at them on Sunday. I didn’t quite hole the putts to do it but played well enough.

“Obviously, there was a lot of pressure on in terms of keeping my card and I’m really proud that I didn’t let that effect my play. I felt as though I really thrived on it actually.”

Finishing third, jointly with Spain’s Nachol Lvira, matched his highest placing on the Tour after occupying that position in last year’s BMW Open in Germany.

His performance at the weekend earned him a bumper pay day of just under 170,000 euros.