DANIEL Brooks has admitted that he played some of the best golf of his professional career as he placed third in the Andalucia Valderrama Masters.

The Basildon-born PGA European Tour golfer finished seven under par on the Spanish course.

And Brooks was delighted with his performance.

Brooks said: “It was really pleasing to finish third.

“It was definitely a big week of golf for me and it was great that I performed well.

“I would say that I played some of my best golf, to be honest.

“I won in Madeira in 2014 but, having done so well over the course of the weekend, I was particularly pleased to do well here.”

Home favourite Sergio Garcia and Joost Luiten, of the Netherlands, were the only competitors to finish higher on the leaderboard than Brooks.

And Garcia, whose foundation hosted the event, was full of praise for Brooks after the Englishman finished four strokes behind the winner.

The Masters champion told Sky Sports: “All three of us (in the final group) played amazing.

“Daniel played great with everything he had on the line, trying to keep his card, and Joost played unbelievable.”

Brooks was full of smiles once he heard the praise from the golfing legend.

The 30-year-old added: “Sergio is a great lad and it was nice to hear him say good things about me.

“He played really well and it spurred me on.

“It is a really difficult course, but it is also one of the best, so it was great to play some good golf.”

As a result of his impressive display, Brooks was able to pocket more than £110,000 in prize winnings.

Brooks was also able to climb into the top 100 places in the Race to Dubai rankings, which is enough to secure the golfer’s European Tour card for next season.

And Brooks is looking forward to a break from the course.

Brooks, who now sits in 97th spot on the leaderboard, confirmed: “I have been involved in European Tour events for each of the last 10 weeks, so I will take some time off.

“I am a bit drained after so many weeks of travelling and being on the course, so a bit of time away from the course will hopefully do me good.

“But I am looking forward to next season and building on this performance then.

“It was very handy to break into the top 100 of the Race to Dubai rankings because we’re coming towards the end of the season, so it is great timing.”