Grant Forrest Holds Halfway Lead at Open de España as Patrick Reed Misses Cut

• Grant Forrest leads the Open de España by one shot after rounds of 66 and 67.
• Connor Syme and Joel Girrbach share second place at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
• Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed missed the cut.

Form is temporary. Course history, it seems, is something else entirely.

Grant Forrest arrived in the Spanish capital on the back of four consecutive missed cuts and a retirement across his five appearances on the Back 9. He leaves Friday one stroke clear at the halfway stage of the Open de España presented by Madrid, having added a 4-under 67 to the opening 66 that gave him a share of the first-round lead.

The Scot has never missed the cut in six previous appearances in Spain’s national open and has twice finished tied third at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, in 2021 and 2024. After Thursday’s round he said he had seen signs that a good performance was coming.

His countryman Connor Syme and Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach are his nearest challengers on 8-under.

How did Forrest get there?

Not without a wobble. Forrest bogeyed his opening hole of the day, but a pair of fine approaches set up birdies at the 7th and 8th, and he turned in 35.

He birdied the 10th and then holed from 32 feet at the 12th. The 13th caught him for a second consecutive day, but he hit straight back at the 14th and signed off with an up-and-down birdie at the last.

“It was a good, really good score in the end,” he said. “You know, I didn’t have my best stuff on our first five or six holes, but made a couple of really nice par saves to keep the momentum going, and then, yeah, I just managed to make quite a few birdies.

“Started driving it well the last 12 holes and yeah, delighted with 4-under. I probably didn’t play quite as well as yesterday.”

A two-time DP World Tour winner who has played his best golf of the season this week while admitting he wasn’t at his best on Friday. That will worry the chasing pack.

Syme keeps the foot down

Syme, a co-leader after round one, moved to 8-under with a 68 that was anything but routine. He made birdies from inside ten feet at the 2nd and 4th either side of a bogey, then holed his third shot from around 60 yards at the 6th for the most unlikely of gains. He dropped a shot at the 8th.

Five straight pars followed before an up-and-down from just short of the par-5 14th, and he closed with a birdie from just inside 15 feet at the 18th.

“I think I’m just going to keep plugging away and doing my best,” he said. “Obviously, I had a couple of good scores there.

“It’s hard to know when a day like Thursday will come when you shoot 5-under for nine holes and you fly up the board, or today was a bit more plodding along and then a couple came towards the end. I’m just going to keep the foot down.”

Girrbach eyes a maiden title

Unlike the two Scots, Girrbach is still chasing a first DP World Tour title, and the Swiss finished third here 12 months ago. He was in the very first group out on Friday. Forrest, Syme and Girrbach all played in the morning wave.

A bogey at the 2nd was quickly forgotten as Girrbach reeled off five straight birdies from the 4th to the 8th. Another at the 10th gave him the outright on-course lead, and he stretched it with a stress-free birdie at the 14th. He gave shots back at the 16th and 17th but finished on a high with a closing birdie for a 66.

“I’ve got good memories of this place,” he said. “It’s quite tight off the tee. I’m usually quite strong off the tee and keep it quite straight. So that definitely helps.

“And yeah, today I hit it quite close and I made some good putts. So that definitely helps on this course.”

Chacarra’s Race to Dubai opening

The biggest story may lie two shots further back. Eugenio Chacarra, who cast doubt over his participation after Thursday’s round because of a fractured toe, teed it up again on home soil and finished strongly with three birdies over his final five holes for a 69 and 7-under.

Patrick Reed, who has led the Race to Dubai Rankings since February, missed the cut, and a Chacarra victory on Sunday would lift the Spaniard above both the American and Rory McIlroy. He has already won two national opens this season, in the Netherlands and Italy. A third, in front of a home crowd and on one good foot, would be quite the story.

Joe Dean, who won his first DP World Tour title earlier this season at the Husqvarna British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, is alongside Chacarra on 7-under after a bogey-free 67.

The chasing pack

Five players sit on 6-under. Danish pair Jacob Skov Olesen and Jeff Winther are joined by France’s Martin Couvra and Victor Perez and New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier.

Couvra and Winther both signed for 66s, Rolex Series winner Perez strung together a hat-trick of birdies in his 68, and Hillier’s 69 completed the top-10.

At the other end of the leaderboard, Eddie Pepperell needs Race to Dubai points to preserve his playing rights for next season. He made the cut on the number at 1-over after birdieing his final hole in a battling 70.

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