Grant Forrest happy to get another call from Donald Trump if he can defend Nexo title

In a surreal moment, Forrest found himself chatting with Trump on a FaceTime call after he’d won the Nexo Championship on the DP World Tour a year ago at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire.

“He’s some player,” said Trump of Forrest as he spoke on a phone being held by Sarah Malone, the executive vice president at the Menie Estate venue, after the Scot had landed a second tour win with a four-shot success. “I look forward to playing with him. In fact, I’ll play with him tomorrow if he could get on a plane. Get on a plane and come over here Grant!” Replying, a smiling Forrest said: “Let’s do it, Mr President!”

Back to defend his title this week, the East Lothian man laughed after being asked about that, revealing, perhaps unsurprisingly, that it hadn’t happened. Nonetheless, Forrest admitted it would be “nice” to be offered the opportunity again if he can produce another impressive performance on the Old Course over the next four days, when he should certainly be inspired by a giant image of himself from last year on the side of the Players’ Lounge.

“Yeah, it is a good feeling,” said the 33-year-old, smiling, of being greeted by that on his arrival earlier in the week. “Anywhere you’ve won, you have fond and special memories and it’s great to come back here as the defending champion. It’s hard to believe, though, that it’s been a full year already.”

With former Masters champion and Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed among his rivals on this occasion, Forrest is expecting another tough test on a course where his winning total 12 months ago was just eight under par.

“Though it was a comfortable victory in the end, at no point did I feel that I could really relax until it was done and dusted on the 18th green,” he confessed “There’s a lot of trouble out here, especially when it is windy, and there aren’t really any holes where you can afford to switch off, which is the sign of a good golf course.”

Where does it stand in terms of the toughest tests on the DP World Tour schedule? “Yeah, it has got to be up there and obviously the conditions play a huge part on a course like this,” he added. “Level par was comfortably in the top ten last year and that was with a lot of tees having been moved forward due to the conditions. It could be silly out here if they don’t set it up properly, but they did a great job last year and I am sure it will be the same again this year.”

Forrest, who is among 15 home players in the field, heads into his assignment as the defending champion sitting 94th in the Race to Dubai Ranking, having only managed just one top-ten finish in his 15th starts so far this appearance. “Yeah, it’s not been amazing,” he said of how things have gone for him over the past 12 months. “I had a decent finish last year then into this year, but then it’s been pretty quiet since we got to Europe.

“But, knowing I am in all the tournaments at the back end of the season, when those events are all so heavily weighted in terms of Race to Dubai points, you are sort of building up for those. You are biding your time and trying to stay patient as you try to peak for that part of the season.

“Last year, I was probably in a similar Race to Dubai position coming into this event. I didn’t feel I was playing particularly well but went out and won and, all of sudden, it became a different season altogether. You’ve always got to believe that your good weeks are good enough to compete and also win. You’ve always got to keep hold of that.”