La Armada has foundered in Scotland. And it’s not just a matter of the elements, yes, it hasn’t been an easy day, the wind has blown again and there has even been horizontal rain, but it has been the same for everyone. And not everyone has foundered.
There will be no Spanish victory in the Nexo Championship. Zero chances. This is the first headline left by the third day. It is true that only twelve players managed to beat the Trump International Links this Saturday. But none of them competed under the Spanish flag. A day to forget both individually and collectively.
The best Spaniard is Pablo Ereño (+4), who this week became the 392nd debutant of Spanish golf in the DP World Tour. Obviously, there can be no criticism of the Madrid native. Quite the opposite. Hats off to the young man who turned professional just a short while ago. He also signed the best round of the day, a scorecard of 74 strokes with three birdies, three bogeys, and a double bogey. He is in 31st place, twelve strokes off the lead. The top 10 could be a target, but he is five strokes away. It will require delivering the best round of the day on Sunday or something very similar.
Grant Forrest (-8) has taken command of the tournament with a firm and powerful final flourish. He pulled out three birdies in the last five holes, two of them on the 17th and 18th, to open a more than curious gap of three strokes over the second place occupied by the Dutchman Daan Huizing (-5), the Englishman Todd Clements (-5), and the Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan (-5), the usual suspect of recent times in the DP World Tour and the best round today (68 strokes). The fifth place is already five strokes behind Forrest, a more than interesting gap, although by no means definitive given the demands of the Aberdeen course. If Forrest has a bad day, many will be brought into the fight. In that fifth place at -3 are Jacob Skov Olesen, Joe Dean, and Andy Sullivan.
Forrest is 32 years old and has one victory in the DP World Tour. It was in 2021, four years ago, also in Scotland, at the Hero Open in Fairmont St Andrews. It may seem like a modest record, but since he obtained full rights to the European circuit back in 2019, he has comfortably maintained his playing rights, always among the top 100 in the circuit. A solid career that has lacked a certain brilliance.
Beyond Ereño, the Spaniards will fight in the final round to recover as many positions as possible and earn those points that are so appreciated at the end of the season on seemingly dreary Sundays like tomorrow. Jorge Campillo and Eugenio Chacarra are at +5, Rafa Cabrera Bello at +7, and Sebas García Rodríguez at +12.
