Will Harrold is back in Norfolk for a well-earned break after a gruelling schedule in the Far East.

The Sheringham professional is currently focusing his efforts on the PGA Tour's China Series and recently completed a run of seven tournaments in eight weeks.

The reason for the hard toil in often sweltering conditions is the big prize awaiting the top five players in the Order of Merit, a place on the second tier web.com Tour in the United States in 2019, and Harrold has played well enough so far to put himself in a position to challenge.

Having made a flying start by finishing runner-up in his two opening events the Norfolk trail-blazer ended the first half of his campaign with two solid finishes to move up to eighth in the standings with around £40,000 of prize money to his name.

He is currently about £8,000 short of the mark required to book a new life across the Atlantic, and will have everything to play for when the China Series resumes with the Suzhou Open at Junji Lakes on August 30.

'There are still five more events to go so if I can play well there's certainly a good chance,' said Harrold, who would relish a return to competitive golf in the US, having spent four years studying and playing at the University of Missouri.

'If I finish outside the top five then I should still get a direct entry into the web.com Tour qualifying competition, but the target is to get a tour card.

'Had I won one of those tournaments early in the season I would almost be there now but it didn't quite happen. Since then I have had a few ups and downs but I played okay in my last two events and now I need to keep that going.

'I wouldn't say it has always been fun because playing golf in the sort of temperatures you get out there is a real test. It can be a grind at times, I would say, but we play on some nice courses and obviously there's the attraction of winning a place on the web.com tour next season.

'If you do well you can get onto the PGA Tour from there so it's certainly worth all the effort.'

Harrold finished tied 18th at the Beijing Championship at Yanqi Lakes after rounds of 69, 73, 70 and 69 and before that was tied 20th at the Qingdao Championships at Tiger Beach Golf Links (74, 72 71 and 74).