Grant Forrest enjoyed another great week at the Spanish Open and he has given himself a great opportunity heading into the climax of the season.
A third-place finish moved the 28-year-old up to 35th in the Race to Dubai with five events to go.
Finishing in the top 30 was good enough to earn a place in this year’s Open at Royal St George’s and Grant now has a great chance to get a spot in next year’s 150th Open championship at St Andrews, which will be a very special event.
Grant has enjoyed a terrific season with a top five at the Irish Open followed by a breakthrough victory at the Hero Open.
Playing alongside world number one Jon Rahm on Sunday, he made five birdies and an eagle over the closing seven holes to surge up the leaderboard. He will take so much confidence from that.
When you perform like that while playing with the best player in the world you have got to feel good about yourself.
He will take a huge amount of positives from the week and hopefully he can build on that over the final run of tournaments in the 2021 season.
If he does well it could open the door for some big events in 2022, such as majors and World Golf Championships. The higher up the order of merit he can finish the better.
I’m sure at the start of the season his initial priority was to make sure he kept his card but after winning he would have re-evaluated his goals.
He is up to 155th in the world rankings – his highest position so far – so hopefully he can keep the momentum going.
The tour heads to Valderrama, host of the 1997 Ryder Cup, for this week’s Andalucia Masters.
🚨 HOLE-IN-ONE! 🚨@grantforrest93 on the 9th.#AccionaOpen pic.twitter.com/Iqg3bMXqHZ
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) October 7, 2021
The scoring was very low at last week’s Spanish Open but it is unlikely to be the same this week.
The course is beautiful but it is very windy which is going to make it a tricky tournament.
There is no hiding place on this difficult course. It is a thinking man’s course and it is essential to be hitting the right numbers.
Every golfer that comes to this course knows they have to be on top of their game to do well.
You have to be able to hit all of the shots, which is why Sergio Garcia loves it around here so much as it plays into his skill-set.
It is great to see Jon Rahm here and again supporting the European Tour.
I spoke to a few of the guys who played last week and they said the crowds were phenomenal. Spain is a great golfing country and the fans would have loved seeing one of their own – Rafa Cabrello-Bello pip his fellow countryman Adri Arnaus to win his first title for four years.
It looked a great event so I was disappointed to miss out due to a back injury.
I have had a bit of treatment on it. I should be fine to play and then I will have time to rest before the Portugal Masters and Dubai.
If I play like I did at the Dunhill Links and the BMW PGA Championship then I’ll be happy. I know I can play in the wind because we got battered for four rounds at the Dunhill.
Anything around par is normally a good score on this course. You’ve just got to be patient and take your chances when they come along.
A true gentleman
I was extremely saddened to hear the legendary golf broadcaster and journalist Renton Laidlaw died on Tuesday at the age of 82.
The Scot was the long-term BBC golf correspondent and the true voice of golf.
He reported on 58 Open Championships, his first being back in 1959, and was the first non-American reporter to cover 40 Masters, reaching the milestone in 2013.
We are deeply saddened to hear of Renton Laidlaw’s passing.
With his distinctive Scottish voice, Laidlaw was one of golf’s most respected broadcasters and journalists, and provided great service and dedication to the sport.
Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time. pic.twitter.com/f2G4qBMG0c
— The R&A (@RandA) October 12, 2021
It was no surprise to read lots of warm tributes from those who knew him. He was a true gentleman and a very dear friend of my uncle Bernard.
It is sad for Renton’s death to come so soon after the passing of his fellow journalist Jock MacVicar – two men who devoted their life to covering golf.
Will Tiger be at The 2022 Open?
It was brilliant to see the pictures of Tiger Woods pictured at a golf course watching his son play earlier this week.
I know he wasn’t swinging a club but it was great to see him as we hadn’t really heard anything about the progress he has been making since he suffered serious leg and foot injuries in a car accident.
It would be great if he came out and gave a statement to let everyone know how far down the line he is on the road to recovery.
We would all love to see him at St Andrews for The Open next year if he isn’t going to be fit to play The Masters at Augusta.
I think he will make a comeback because he is the type of character who thrives on that adversity and trying to get back to his best after being written off.
Hopefully we will see him back on the course soon.
