It’s a dream for most top golfers and Grant Forrest has teed up a chance to achieve it twice. The East Lothian-based player landed his breakthrough DP World Tour win on Scottish soil in the 2020 Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews. He’s now of course for another tartan triumph, taking a three-shot lead into the final round of the Nexo Championship at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire. “There’s a long way to go, but I’m happy with the way I dug in today and it was a great way to finish,” said Forrest, who picked up three shots in the last five holes for a 71 to sit on eight-under-par in the $2.75 million tournament on Donald Trump’s spectacular Old Course at Menie Estate. Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan (68), Englishman Todd Clements (69) and Dutchman Daan Huizing (70) are leading the chase after Jordan Smith, the highest-ranked player in the field, suffered a surprising late collapse, finishing with back-to-back double bogeys for a 78, having moved ahead of overnight leader Forrest with eight holes to play. On another challenging day as the wind gusted in excess of 25mph, Forrest, who’d moved into pole position in the battle for a top prize worth $467,500 on the back of a course-record 66 on Friday, dropped shots at the eighth and tenth, admitting that he’d been “lucky to escape with a 6” at the latter. He “settled down” thereafter, though, picking up his first birdie of the day from close range at the par-4 13th then knocking in a 16-footer at the 17th followed by a 20-footer at the last in an impressive birdie-birdie finish on the Martin Hawtree-designed layout. “I’m pretty happy with my gameplan so far and if it’s similar conditions tomorrow it will just be about getting the ball in play off the tee and hitting greens and remaining patient,” said the 32-year-old. “I’ve only led once before, and I ended up winning. But there’s a long way to go, especially on this golf course, and I’m just going to take it one shot at a time.” Just over a month ago, Forrest was in despair about his game. “My golf is just not there just now,” he admitted after a poor weekend in the BMW International Open in Munich. “If it’s not one thing that’s letting me down, it is something else. That’s why I have struggled to actually shoot a low round this year. I don’t think I’ve shot better than four under. I’ve had plenty of chances, but it’s either my putting or my short game or approach play or tee shots. There’s constantly something that is way off the mark.” It was a timely confidence boost when he then finished joint-22nd, picking up the Jock MacVicar AGW Trophy as the leading home player, in the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club and he’s now arrived here this week in a good place on and off the course. Wife Christy and eight-month-old son Spencer are up in Aberdeen with him and his mum, Audrey, is likely to be heading up as well for the closing circuit. “It’s nice to have my family here and I think there will be some more coming tomorrow,” said the leader. “I’m really looking forward to it and it’s great to have Spencer here. I’ve loved spending time with my family at home since the Scottish Open.” Reitan, who has Edinburgh man Tim Poyser on his bag, won the Soudal Open in Belgium earlier this year and is looking to cement his position as one of the ten players currently sitting in a PGA Tour card-winning spot on the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai. I played the Scottish (Open) and The Open, but this is a different type of wind,” said Reitan, who graduated from the HotelPlanner Tour last season. “It's just so much stronger and takes some getting used to, but I feel like I managed it nicely today. “If you hit a fade, you have to aim right edge of the fairway aiming it at a bush on a few of these holes, which is very uncomfortable. You have to trust that it will come back and it's not very comfortable, but just getting used to it and being able to trust the strong winds. That's what you've got to do. I feel like I've managed that better and better each day, so hopefully that keeps going into tomorrow.” Huizing is a links specialist, having won both the St Andrews Links Trophy and Lytham Trophy in 2012 as an amateur. “Anything under par in these conditions is very good,” he declared. “If you make a mistake, it’s important to accept it and move on and that has worked very well for me. I must keep reminding myself that I’m playing well and I can bounce back with birdies.” He birdied the 17th for the third day running, setting up his 3 on this occasion with a brilliant approach from the native area. “I hit an incredible shot,” he admitted. “When I stood over my approach, I pictured the shot in my head and it came out exactly how I wanted. To make the putt and walk away with birdie after my tee shot was a great feeling.” Clements, who landed his maiden win in the D+D REAL Czech Masters two years ago, hit his tee shot at the 382-yard par-4 fifth to around a foot for an eagle while his card also contained four birdies. Clements claimed: “It was one of those days when golf showed its true teeth,” said the 28-year-old. “I holed some good putts and got lucky at times out there, but I’m delighted with my work. You must really stick in there as it tests you mentally. But I enjoy the challenge of links golf, and I feel like it really suits my game.” London-born Scot Ryan Lumsden (70) sits joint-ninth on one under, one shot ahead of Daniel Young (73) while Martin Laird, in his first DP World Tour appearance since 2018, is just outside the top 30 on four over following his 73.