Grant Forrest will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Major Champion Paul Lawrie by becoming just the second Scot to win three DP World Tour titles on home soil as he prepares to defend the Nexo Championship this week.
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The fan favourite, who claimed his maiden title at the Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews in 2021, added to his success in Scotland last summer when he prevailed by four strokes over England’s Joe Dean at Trump International Golf Links. In doing so, he joined Colin Montgomerie and Robert MacIntyre in players from Scotland to have won twice at home.
The 33-year-old will now set his sights set even higher, as he enters the week looking to build on his four top-20 finishes so far this season, and with the goal of once again lifting the trophy in front of family, friends and the home crowd.
Forrest will need to outplay a strong field in Aberdeenshire, which is headlined by Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed.
The American, who played Wednesday’s pro-am alongside three-time Grand Slam champion Sir Andy Murray, renowned tennis coach Judy Murray and seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion Jamie Murray, returns for his first event on golf’s Global Tour since The Open.
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This week marks the first of five straight events for the World Number 32, whose focus is on replicating his earlier form, where he claimed two titles in three weeks, and extending his lead at the top of the season-long points battle.
Another player looking to build on recent results is Scotland’s own Cameron Adam.
The Global Amateur Pathway Ranking winner set a new course record at last week’s Danish Golf Championship, a feat which earned him $30,000 thanks to Nexo, with consistency his main goal heading into his first DP World Tour tournament on Scottish soil.
He will be joined by Aberdeen local David Law in bolstering the home charge, the pair among 15 Scots representing at this week’s event.
The Nexo Championship is the concluding event of the DP World Tour’s Closing Swing, the last of five Global Swings included on the 2026 Race to Dubai, with exemptions into the Back 9 and the next Rolex Series event of the season, the BMW PGA Championship, on offer.
This year marks the third edition of the Nexo Championship, which first featured on the DP World Tour’s Global Schedule in 2020, where it was known as the Scottish Championship. The tournament returns to the Old Course at Trump International Golf Links for a second consecutive year.
Player Quotes
Grant Forrest: It’s great, quite strange to see my face plastered everywhere, but it’s great to be back. Great memories from last year and after a five-week break as well, it’s nice to get back playing.
I mean, just be trying to do the same stuff as always (approach to the week). Coming back from a break, just one shot at a time and really just try and enjoy it as well.
I love it. I mean, both my wins have been in Scotland, so there must be something in that. I love playing golf in Scotland, and we have amazing golf courses and links courses especially, so I definitely love playing at home.
It’s great (the course). It’s in really good condition. It had a lot of rain overnight and into this morning, but it’s immaculate to be honest, and I think even from last year it’s still quite a young course, but it’s really coming on and I’m looking forward to the challenge this week. I think it’s to be an opposite wind direction to what we had last year, so will sort of be like playing a completely different golf course, but looking forward to getting going.
Up to the Scottish Open, it’s been a little bit of a quiet season so far, but I don’t feel like it’s a million miles away. I had a five-week break, and I had surgery on my sinuses during the break, so I wasn’t able to do as much sort of practice as I maybe would have liked over the past two weeks. I’m feeling decent about my game, it doesn’t feel a million miles away, so hopefully we can put some good golf together this week.
