… Yas Links, Abu Dhabi
Newly-engaged Scott Grant Forrest is hoping to bank a whopping £stg 1.3m early wedding prize purse if the Scot can pull off victory in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Forrest, 29, posted a superb ‘moving day’ 65 capped by a seventh hole eagle for a second day running, along with seven birdies, five over his inward half, to be just one shot off the lead at 12-under in the record-setting $US9m event on the Yas Links course.
Three players – the back-to-back Open Champion winning duo of Francesco Molinari (69) and Shane Lowry (66) along with Aussie and former Scottish Open champ Min Woo Lee (66) – share the lead on 13-under.
Forrest is tied in fourth spot with Swede Sebastian Soderberg (66) and Dundee-based Frenchman Victor Perez (68) while a third Open champion in Padraig Harrington posted the equal lowest round of the day in signing for a 68 to be sharing seventh spot at 11-under.
Grant Forrest winning the 2021 Hero Open at the Fairmont Resort with future wife, Christy Farrell by his side
Harrington, aged 51 years and 144 days, is looking to become the oldest winner on the DP World Tour and, if successful, would surpass Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez who won the 2014 Spanish Open at age 51 years and 133 days.
Forrest’s biggest Tour prize payout in his 117 events is £stg 166,000 in capturing his maiden and still first win at the 2021 Hero Open at the Fairmont Resort on the outskirts of St. Andrews.
And with his fiancée Christy Farrell, who is taking a break from her job at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary to support her future husband. The couple announced their engagement over the Festive Season and will tie the knot later this year post the end of the golfing season.
Scotland’s Grant Forrest just one off the lead heading to last day 2023 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship (Photo @TourMiss_
Forrest said: “I’m delighted as it’s good to be in this position again after a lot of poor golf last year and feel back on track.
“I’ve struggled a bit since my win at St. Andrews so it’s great to be in a position to have a chance of winning. This is a much bigger event with a much stronger field, but you want to be amongst the best players.”
Helping steer the Craigielaw golfer to victory is a decision to team-up with fellow Scot Dave Kenny, and Paul Lawrie’s former long-time winning caddie.
Forrest said: “I’ve been through quite a few coaches the last wee while.
“Ultimately, I’ve decided to go back to my golfing DNA and, over the winter, I looked back on all the weeks I’d done well and what I was doing in those weeks.
“This is also the first time I’ve been in this position in a Rolex Series Event, so really looking forward to tomorrow and see what happens”.
Just two back of Forrest is fellow Scot Connor Syme who matched Harrington’s 64 to be at 10-under.
Syme said it helped his game by installing an artificial putting green where laser lights reflect off the ceiling highlighting the greens’ humps and hollows.
Unlike most of the Scots now on Tour, Syme is chasing a first victory.
He said: “I’m just three back, so I’m excited.
“It’s my first event of the season and obviously it’s great to see the stuff I’ve been doing in the winter has been good and progressing. Yeah, obviously just try and make as many birdies tomorrow and see what happens”.
