Grant Forrest Wins Open de España to Earn Masters and Open Invitations

• Grant Forrest won the Open de España, one shot ahead of Eugenio Chacarra.
• Forrest birdied the 72nd hole at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid to win.
• The victory earns Forrest invitations to the 2027 Masters and the 155th Open Championship at St Andrews.

A week ago Grant Forrest was a man searching for a cut to make. Tonight he has an invitation to Augusta.

The Scot birdied the final hole at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid to win the Open de España presented by Madrid by a single shot on 14-under par. Eugenio Chacarra threw everything at him with a front nine of 31 in front of his home crowd. It was not quite enough.

Forrest’s third DP World Tour title, and his first outside his native Scotland, comes with invitations to the 2027 Masters Tournament and the 155th Open Championship at St Andrews.

“I’m in shock, honestly, pure shock right now,” he said. “That’s fairytale stuff, I’ve played two Opens and to be going to Augusta, I just can’t get my head round it. You can have a great career in this game and never get to go to Augusta, so I cannot believe it.”

How did Forrest get here?

Forrest arrived in the Spanish capital having either missed the cut or retired injured at each of his previous five DP World Tour starts. Club de Campo has always been kinder to him, though. He had never missed the cut in six previous appearances at Spain’s national open and twice finished tied third here, in 2021 and 2024.

That course history carried him to a share of the first-round lead and then one clear at halfway. He shared the 54-hole lead with Joe Dean on 13-under, and in the end the wire-to-wire victory was his.

It was not a serene Sunday. Forrest dropped a shot at the 3rd, hit back at the 4th, then bogeyed the 6th and 8th to slip two behind. Birdies at the 10th and 13th either side of a bogey at the 11th kept him in touch, and a third birdie in four holes at the 14th pulled him level once more.

 

GRANT FORREST WINS THE OPEN DE ESPAÑA PRESENTED BY MADRID 🏆 #OpenEspana https://t.co/7QM6qRtwdR

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 11, 2026

Chacarra’s charge

The Spaniard started the day five behind on 8-under, playing on the fractured toe that had cast doubt over his participation after round one. He had already won the national opens of the Netherlands and Italy this season, and a third in front of a home crowd would have been quite the story.

He birdied the 2nd and 3rd, then misjudged his pitch to the 4th and responded by holing an astonishing 47-foot putt over a ridge, celebrating vociferously. Speaking in an on-course interview on the 6th, he set out his ambitions plainly.

“This is what I needed, I’m excited for the fight,” said Chacarra. “I need to get to 8 or 9 [under par for the round] to have a chance, that’s what my goal is.”

A bogey at the 6th briefly stalled him. He answered with an eagle from 40 feet off the green at the 7th. That meant he had holed 114 feet of putts through seven holes, already more than his 18-hole tally in any of his first three rounds. A birdie from six feet at the 8th took him to 13-under, alongside Dean, and the turn in 31.

The back nine was harder going. He went close from the fringe at the 10th and made an excellent two-putt for par at the 13th, but found a greenside bunker off the tee at the short 17th and bogeyed. He birdied the last for a 66 to set the target at 13-under, and then he had to wait.

The finish

Forrest went through the back of the 16th green but got up and down for par. Ahead of him, the challengers fell away. Jacob Skov Olesen and Dean both bogeyed the 17th, leaving the Scot needing a birdie at the last to win outright.

He missed the 18th green, finishing off the front, then played a well-judged chip to just inside four feet and holed the putt. Stand and deliver.

The moment Grant Forrest secured his Open de España title, a place at the 2027 Masters and The Open at the Home of Golf 🏆 #OpenEspana https://t.co/vNnYMVu44M

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) October 11, 2026

Best of the rest

Olesen had hit the front with a birdie-birdie start. That was all the more impressive because the 1st, at an average of 0.33 over par for the week, has played as the hardest opening hole of the DP World Tour season. Quim Vidal was the only other player to birdie it on Sunday. The Dane gave back his early gains with trouble at the 3rd.

Dean, who won his first DP World Tour title earlier this season at the Husqvarna British Masters, dropped shots at the 2nd and 12th before his late bogey ended his hopes.

The leaderboard was crowded for much of the afternoon. Joel Girrbach’s birdie at the 4th created a four-way tie at the top, and Victor Perez joined the leaders with birdies at the 7th and 8th before dropping a shot at the 11th. Joakim Lagergren, who started alongside Chacarra on 8-under, bogeyed the 3rd and bounced straight back with an eagle at the par-5 4th.

Dan Brown finished with five straight birdies to set an early clubhouse target of 11-under. The Englishman made nine birdies in all, with only a double bogey at the 5th spoiling the card.

Ludvig Åberg bogeyed his first two holes, then recovered with four birdies on the front nine. He dropped a shot at the 12th before three straight birdies from the 13th moved him back into the top-10 on 9-under.

South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence gave an early sign that scores were available, making four birdies in five holes from the 4th to turn in 32 on his way to a 65.

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