Forrest taking positives from Irish drama

The light at the end of the tunnel for the struggling golfer always seems to be just within view, but Scotland’s Grant Forrest feels that it’s shining on him at last.

The 28-year-old is on home ground at the abrdn Scottish Open at The Renaissance, just 15 minutes from his home in Haddington, but it was in Ireland where he finally found himself after months of struggles.

He was in with a shot to win the Irish Open coming down the stretch before a double bogey at the last dropped him to fourth, still equalling his best result in three full years on tour.

“The final hole was what it was, not the way we wanted to finish, but the whole thing was definitely glass half-full,” he said.

“There’s nothing but positives, from the place I was six weeks ago, both mentally and physically, having had a bit of an injury.

“Obviously to be right up there with a chance to win is where you want to be.

I’ve not really been there for quite a while.”

Forrest decided to regroup after the British Masters at the Belfry. He broke up with coach Hugh Marr and tried to recapture what he had at the start of 2019.

“Generally, I’m not someone who wants to have a coach at events every week,” he said. “I’ve had two years of that and it’s not really worked that well.

“I would rather do all my work away from events. Just go to a tournament and play and compete and try to make the best of it that week.

“As I was reviewing everything after The Belfry, I thought back to early 2019. I didn’t have too much coaching input, I was just going out and playing golf.

“It’s easy to get away from that. You can be overcoached out here and get into that when you don’t really need it. I’m just stripping it all back.”

He’s had one meeting with another coach, but mostly he’s relying on himself and familiarity with this venue. Although even that has changed in the last few days with the heavy rain.

“When I left for Germany two weeks ago, it was as hard as a car park and the fairways were yellow,” he said. “They were still watering the greens a bit and it was proper linksy.

“I think the golf course plays a bit better that way. But it’s Scotland, you can’t control the weather.”

Forrest just missed out in Ireland on the consolation place of a spot in next week’s Open Championship.

There’s a final chance for the top four otherwise ineligible players at The Renaissance to get to Sandwich.

“Outside majors and WGCs, I think this is the strongest-ever field for a European Tour event,” said Forrest.

“A lot of the top guys here are already exempt. There’s no reason why getting one of the Open places can’t be achievable if you have a good week.

“It’s definitely a big incentive.”

HOME GUY: Grant Forrest is eyeing Open qualification at The Renaissance this week.