This Scot had missed 9 of his last 12 cuts. Now he’s heading to the Masters and British Open

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Grant Forrest simply could not believe what had happened.

“I’ve not played well at all,” he said. “To walk away with a win is just unbelievable.”

The 33-year-old Scot birdied the 72nd hole to capture the Spanish Open at Real Club de Campo Villa in Madrid for his third DP World Tour title. Doesn’t seem like it’s that unbelievable, especially considering he had won a tour event just 14 months ago.

Digging into the numbers, however, shows what a mighty struggle it’s been.

Before this week, Forrest had played in 19 events, missed nine cuts and had to withdraw from one. His best finish is a seventh-place tie in Bahrain back in February. But, in his last 12 starts, Forrest has missed nine cuts, including that WD. So he’d only played on the weekend once since May.

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Now, by virtue of the Spanish Open victory, Forrest has qualified for both the Masters and British Open.

“It’s fairytale stuff,” he said. “I’ve played two Opens. To be going to Augusta, I can’t get my head around it.”

To add to the fairytale, Forrest was abysmal off the tee for most of the week, especially in the final round where he only hit four of 14 fairways. He was one of the worst drivers in the field. But he still scrambled to shoot 66-67-67 the first three days.

On Sunday, Forrest got off to a rough start making three bogeys in his first eight holes. But he birdied the 10th, then added more at 13 and 14 to have a chance, although Spain’s Eugenio Chacarra had caught him from several groups ahead.

Chacarra, a two-time winner this year, bogeyed the 17th to give Forrest some hope, but he birdied the easy 322-yard par-4 final hole. He was in the house at 13-under total.

Forrest hit his drive on the home hole short and left of the green. He chipped it to three feet and made the birdie putt to shoot one-under 70 and top Chacarra and Victor Perez by a shot at 14-under 270 total.

“I’m in shock, honestly. Pure shock,” he said. “It’s been such a tough year.”

A trip to Augusta and the Old Course next year ought to easy some of that pain.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com