Grant Forrest wins Spanish Open with final-hole birdie to secure major places

Grant Forrest won the Spanish Open with a birdie on the final hole, finishing one shot ahead of Eugenio Chacarra and Victor Perez and securing places at next year's Masters and The Open. BBC Sport reported that the Scottish golfer closed with a one-under-par 70 to finish on 14 under, collecting his third DP World Tour title.

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The result was also Forrest's first professional victory outside Scotland and brought a first prize of £480,000. He had begun the final round tied with England's Joe Dean at 13 under, but his route to the trophy was far from straightforward. An uneven opening nine left him needing to recover ground before the decisive finish.

Forrest made a birdie at the fourth hole, but bogeys at the third, sixth and eighth dropped him two strokes behind the lead. He responded after the turn, recording three birdies and one bogey across the first five holes of his back nine. That recovery took him back into a share of first place and kept him in contention heading towards the closing hole.

Chacarra had already completed his round at 13 under when Forrest and playing partner Perez reached the 18th. Both needed a birdie to move ahead of the Spaniard. Their tee shots on the 322-yard par-four finished in rough beside the green, leaving each with the opportunity to win outright if he could complete the hole in two more strokes.

Perez's birdie attempt went past the hole, but Forrest converted his own chance after getting out of the rough. The successful up-and-down left Chacarra and Perez sharing second place on 13 under. Denmark's J. Skov Olesen and England's D. Brown and Dean finished at 12 under, while Sweden's L. Aberg was among the other finishers at 10 under.

Speaking after the victory, Forrest described his surprise and the difficulty of his year, according to the BBC. He also pointed to positive memories of the course and tournament. Having previously played in two Opens, he singled out the opportunity to compete at Augusta as a particularly significant reward from his win in Spain.