Spanish Open success adds to fine spell for Scots at top level in men’s professional game
Even when you’ve covered golf for more than 40 years, you can never really get your head round this bloody game and no wonder it drives professionals in particular close to insanity at times.
Just ask Grant Forrest and David Law, for example, after what’s been happening with them over the past few weeks and what their mindset is heading into the final few events of the DP World Tour season.
Quite frankly, Forrest had been going through a torrid time, having made just one cut since the end of May as he headed into last week’s Open de Espana presented by Madrid at Club de Campo. Even allowing for the fact he’d finished joint-third in the same event at the same venue in 2021 and 2024, he teed off on Thursday morning as a 250-1 shot and rightly so.
In contrast, Law arrived in the Spanish capital on the back of six cuts in a row and seven in his previous eight starts and, on that basis, looked more likely out of the Scottish pair to at least have a chance of getting the mix in the $3.75 million event.
Yet, at the end of the four days, Forrest walked away with a third DP World Tour title along with some very tasty treats indeed for 2027 while, despite extending his cut streak, Law lost ground in the Race to Dubai Ranking and now faces an anxious two weeks in India and Korea as he battles to retain a seat at the top table.
One thing that should be pointed out straight away is that Forrest didn’t have any extra weight on his shoulders this season due to the exemption he secured for winning last year’s Nexo Championship at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire being in place until the end of the 2027 campaign.
The 33-year-old wasn’t in a position where he was worrying about his card and, make no mistake, that makes a hell of a difference no matter what you’ve achieved in the game.
As was the case, though, when he landed his maiden win in the 2021 Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews then again on home soil in the Nexo Championship, Forrest showed once more that he’s one of those players who can find an extra great when the need arises.
By his own admission, the East Lothian-player didn’t have his best stuff at times last week, but he dug in when he needed to, kept himself in the golf tournament and delivered big moments - notably a brilliant up and down at the last for a birdie - when he had to.
"I was texting my wife [Christy] about an hour before I teed off, saying ‘I haven’t been this nervous for a long time’,” admitted Forrest as he savoured joining Bernard Gallacher, Brian Barnes, Sam Torrance and Colin Montgomerie in recording a Scottish success in one of the iconic events on the DP World Tour. “It’s a good thing and I just tried to embrace it and I’m just really proud of the way we dug in there today.”
There are times over the years when Forrest has perhaps been guilty of being too harsh on himself. However, with not only Christy in his life now but son Spencer, too, he is maybe appreciating that golf isn’t the be all and end all and, as a consequence of turning his season on its head by landing the biggest win of his career, exciting times now lie ahead.
For starters, he’s now secured his spot in the season-ending Play-Offs - the Abu Dhabi Aldair Championship and DP World Tour Championship - in the Middle East next month. Even more mouth-watering than that, though, are the invitations he earned on Sunday for The Masters next year and The 155th Open at St Andrews.
It will be an Augusta National debut for the former Scottish Amateur champion, who agonisingly missed out on an appearance in the season’s opening major after losing to Frenchman Romain Langasque in the final of The R&A Amateur Championship at Carnoustie in 2015. As for The Open, it will be his third outing, though this one will be special, of course, at the home of golf.
On the back of a poor Scottish representation in the men’s majors this year, that really is terrific to see, as is the fact that Forrest’s win came a few weeks after Scott Jamieson landed a first tartan triumph of the year on the DP World Tour by succeeding him as the Nexo champion.
Add in Sandy Scott’s two recent wins on the Korn Ferry Tour and the Nairn player now getting ready to fly the Saltire along with Bob MacIntyre on the PGA Tour next year and it’s certainly been a fine spell for Scots at the top level in the men’s professional game.
If there’s a golfing God, then Law will still be a DP World Tour card holder next season along with Forrest, Jamieson, MacIntyre, Calum Hill, Ewen Ferguson and Connor Syme, who, due to also having an exemption through until the end of next year, doesn’t have to fret about being below the cut-off mark as he prepares to become a first-time dad any day soon.
Law’s target is staying inside the top 100 in the Race to Dubai and he is currently 97th. He’d have gladly swapped that recent consistent spell for one big week, of course, but you don’t get to pick and choose in professional golf. It’s about earning whatever goal you are chasing and hats off to those Scottish players, including Michael Stewart, of course, who have given us something to shout about in this crazy game over the past few weeks.