Top home player gets 'absolute clinic' from Justin Rose in Scottish Open

Rose, the 2014 winner at Royal Aberdeen, turned on the style at The Renaissance Club as he signed off with a seven-under-par 63.

The effort was a timely boost as the Englishman heads to Royal Portrush in his bid to go one better in The 153rd Open after finishing runner-up to Xander Schauffele at Royal Troon 12 months ago.

“I got an absolute clinic today from Justin,” declared Forrest, who was in the same group. “It was seriously impressive. Getting to play with guys like him, who has been at the top so long, is good. Obviously he had a great day. He only missed one shot. It was good to see the standard.”

Though disappointed with his work over the weekend, Forrest finished as the leading Scot, picking up the Jock MacVicar AGW Memorial Trophy in honour of the legendary Scottish golf writer.

“Yes, it can drive you on,” added Forrest of his day in the company of Rose, a major winner and former Olympic gold medallist. “There aren’t many guys who have played at the level he has for such a long time. You can see why. He hits the ball so accurately and consistently.

“I played with Lee Westwood here in 2019 and I felt the same about him. It’s total control of the ball. You can see why they’ve had the success and the longevity at this level.”

Forrest, who closed with a 69 to finish around the top 25, picked up valuable Race to Dubai points after struggling with his game in the opening half of the season.

“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 Pencaitland-based player. “It stings a bit to drop one on 17 coming in but all in all it’s been a decent week.

It’s a decent result and now I’m looking forward to a wee break now before we get going. I putted quite well the first couple of days, and my long putting was good for the most part. Everything else needs a bit of work.”

Looking forward to the remainder of the year, he added: “As it stands, I’ll only have about two weeks off until November once we get going again. I’ll miss Crans and the week when the Ryder Cup is on, but I’ll play everything else. Hopefully we can get some better results and I can miss a couple of events because this is going to be a lot of golf.”

Forrest was delighted to hear that David Law had boosted his bid to be back on the DP World Tour next season after winning the Czech Challenge on the HotelPlanner Tour.

“That’s magic,” he said of his former Scotland team-mate. “My wife (Christy) told me when we were out on the course. I think he was 110th after round one and now wins. It’s brilliant.

“He must be close to getting back on the DP World Tour again. That’s another inspiration for me. I need to get my finger out and make sure I’m out on the main tour with him.”