Scottish Open: Grant Forrest learning to get over his anger about poor golf

Grant Forrest is tucked in nicely at the halfway stage in the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open after proving to himself that he’s becoming better at not letting his anger simmer.

The 27-year-old, who lives the closest to The Renaissance Club among the players in this week’s field, facing just a 15-minute commute from Haddington, leapt up the leaderboard in the Rolex Series event on the back of a five-under-par 66 in the second round.

The bogey-free effort, which was illiuminated by two eagles, came less than 24 hours after Forrest had started his opening circuit with three straight birdies before failing to capitalise on that as he opened with a disappointing 71.

“The mental side is something I’m working really hard on,” said the former Scottish Amateur champion, smiling after it had been suggested he could sometimes be a tad hard on himself. “I feel as if I have made a lot of progress on that part of my game.

“It’s about trying to put the bad shots and bad rounds behind me quicker. I have been working with Tom King of Winning Golf Mind for about a year and a half now and it is really helping.

“There is no point telling someone like me not to get a bit angry at myself. It’s more about how quickly you can get over a disappointment.”

Forrest, who tied for 43rd on his debut in this event at the same venue last summer, made the first of his eagles by rolling in a 40-footer at the tenth, his opening hole, before hitting a “lovely 5-wood” to 15 feet at the seventh.

“The key today was not dropping any shots,” he said. “I had been dropping too many shots recently, so it was nice to put in a bogey-free round.”

One of his best finishes last season came when he tied for 14th in the Irish Open and he is hoping that making it to the weekend can become a knack in the big-money Rolex Series events. “It seems to be that these tournaments bring out the best in me, which is nice,” admitted Forrest, who is essentially based at The Renaissance Club these days when he’s at home. “I like to play in the strongest fields against the best players. “I think it forces you to step your game up and it was great playing with GMac [Graeme McDowell] and Renato Paratore over the last couple of days.

“For any Scot, this is always a big event and it’s probably even bigger this year. Hopefully I can be in the mix on Sunday.”

Australian Lucas Herbert leads on 11-under, sitting one ahead of Robert Rock, with two other Englishmen, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, both on nine-under.

Craig Lee is the leading Scot on six-under, with Scott Jamieson, Connor Syme, Ewen Ferguson, Marc Warren, Bob MacIntyre and Calum Hill also still standing.