'Cool moment' - Scot recalls meeting Rory McIlroy ahead of Scottish Open

Forrest was an amateur when he teed up in The Open at Muirfield in 2013 and he vividly remembers his first meeting with the man who became just the sixth player to complete a career grand slam by winning The Masters in April.

“He was practising at Archerfield and I was over there practising as well,” recalled Forrest, who was a Craigielaw member at the time. “He was there with Lloyd Saltman, who I knew from growing up and, of course, they played in the same Walker Cup team (at Royal County Down in 2007).

“So Lloyd introduced me to him and that was a cool moment as I think he’d already won two majors by then and watching him hit balls was pretty special for me at that stage in my career. Yeah, I remember that.”

Forrest, who is based at The Renaissance Club, this week’s venue, only got into the field on Sunday thanks to Englishman Dan Brown winning the BMW International Open, which freed up the spot allocated for that event.

It will be the seventh successive appearance in the event, finishing 11th behind McIlroy in 2023, but he’s heading into this week’s assignment in a somewhat downbeat mood after a disappointing opening half to the DP World Tour season.

“My golf is just not there just now,” he admitted after a poor weekend in the BMW International Open in Munich. “If it’s not one thing that’s letting me down, it is something else. On Saturday, I was really good off the tee and I made two 6s on par 5s with mid irons in. You are giving away four shots there.

“That’s why I have struggled to actually shoot a low round this year. I don’t think I’ve shot better than four under. I’ve had plenty of chances, but it’s either my putting or my short game or approach play or tee shots. There’s constantly something that is way off the mark.

“My longer and mid-irons were exposed last week as the par 5s were playing quite short and what I leave myself with is 4, 5 or 6-irons. You can’t be making bogeys when that’s the case and it’s just been happening way too often this year. It’s frustrating as I am pretty long so it gives me those opportunities on the par 5s and it feels as though it is just a waste.”

It could well be that a home appearance and sleeping in his own bed could help the former Scottish Amateur champion get the result he needs to kick-start his season. “It’s a massive event,” he said of the $9 million Rolex Series tournament. “I love it as I get to stay at home for the week and having lots of family supporting me is really special.

“It’s great to have the Genesis Scottish Open probably being the biggest event on our schedule now. Wentworth is obviously the flagship event, but it’s a stronger field here and it goes from strength to strength every year as well. It just keeps continuing to grow. You are trying as hard as you can every week, but you definitely have a little bit of an added incentive to do well in this event.”