You never stop learning in this game. For Grant Forrest, a round in the company of Justin Rose was such an eye-opening education, the Scot must have been tempted to pay out a tuition fee.
“I got an absolute clinic from Justin,” said Forrest who got a front row seat for a masterclass as Rose romped home with a closing 63 at the Genesis Scottish Open to surge up the leaderboard.
Forrest himself had to settle for a one-under 69 and his five-under aggregate left him as the leading Scot in the field.
“I didn’t have my best stuff, especially over the weekend, but I just tried to do the best with what I had and dug in,” said the 32-year-old.
It’s not been a vintage campaign for Forrest but, in this pursuit of fine margins, every little helps and a solid enough week on home soil gives him something to build on.
Watching Rose go about his composed, clinical business, meanwhile, certainly gave Forrest plenty of food for thought.
“It was seriously impressive,” added the former Scottish Amateur champion, who earned the Jock MacVicar Memorial Trophy as the pick of the tartan troops.
“Getting to play with guys like him is always good. You can see why he’s been at the top for so long.
“I played with Lee Westwood here in 2019 and I felt the same about him. Justin hits the ball so accurately and consistently. He only missed one shot today.
“He has total control of the ball. You can see why he’s had the success and the longevity at this level. It’s good to see the standard that he is at and it can drive you on. But I have work to do.”
Forrest, who won his maiden DP World Tour title at St Andrews back in 2021, was languishing down in 124th place on the Race to Dubai coming into the domestic showpiece and a sturdy finish will, at least, get him inching in the right direction.
After a brief break, he’ll gird himself for a hectic run of events that will make or break his season.
“Once I start up again, I’ll only have about two weeks off until November,” he said. “That’s a lot of golf. There are a lot of events and some big points still to play for so I’m not looking at the rankings just now.
“But the way I’ve played this year, I deserve to be where I am. I need to improve and start playing better.”
A little tonic was provided by his old sparring partner, David Law, who lost his DP World Tour card last season but went a long way to bouncing back with a fine victory on the second-tier HotelPlanner Tour in the Czech Republic yesterday.
“It’s magic,” beamed Forrest. “My wife told me when we were out on the course. He must be close to getting back on the DP World Tour again, so that’s another inspiration for me. I need to get my finger out and make sure I’m out the main tour with him.”
This time last year, Robert MacIntyre coasted over to The Open at Royal Troon on a wave of Scottish Open-winning euphoria.
Today, he’ll board a ferry to Portrush hoping that the crossing is not too choppy after a trying, disappointing title defence in East Lothian.
“I’m not a boat guy and I hope I don’t get seasick,” said the Oban man with a wry smile.
He wasn’t feeling particularly chipper on dry land last night after a closing one-over 71 left him down on a two-over total.
“Horrific, a terrible week,” was MacIntyre’s summing up of affairs. On a firm, fiery Renaissance course that was like a yellow brick road, the 28-year-old felt some equipment issues hindered his progress.
“This is as firm as the course has been,” he added before explaining the technicalities. “There are some equipment things I need to learn from because it's the first time I've played with these irons in concrete conditions.
“I'd moved into these irons for softer conditions, and I couldn't get the strike, I couldn't get the ball flight in the sky, I couldn't stop it, and so that side of it was annoying me.
“I was just getting too much bounce on this turf with my clubs and it started to affect my distances and yardage control. Winning last year is a memory that will last a lifetime. But this was just a poor week.”
We move on quickly in this game, of course. MacIntyre’s return to Portrush this week is being eagerly anticipated.
“It’s on to probably my favourite links golf course in the world,” he said of the Antrim venue where he finished tied sixth on his Open Championship debut back in 2019.
Happy sailing.
