By his own admission, Grant Forrest has been girning this season rather than grinning. The Scot, though, is heading into the weekend with a smile on his face and the halfway leader in the Nexo Championship at Trump International Golf Links in Aberdeenshire admitted his nearest and dearest will be quick to dig him out about it. “I’ll be getting pelters for that,” joked the 32-year-old after adding a 66 in more challenging conditions to an opening 71 to sit on seven under, a shot ahead of England’s Jordan Smith, the highest-ranked player in the field and a big dangerman, in the $2.75 million event on the DP World Tour. “I’ve not had a round like today this season,” added Forrest, who sits 113th in the Race to Dubai and only jumped into a card-saving position on the back of a top-25 finish in last month’s Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. “I think my best round this season has been four-under which, for me, is not great. I’ve not got it going at all. It has been a grind this year so this was nice. I’ve had some better results in June and July and it was great to get a day like today. I’ve missed being in contention. That’s where you want to be so I’m looking forward to the weekend.” In his second circuit, Forrest, who landed his maiden win in the 2021 Hero Open at Fairmont St Andrews, birdied the first, second, fourth and fifth then eighth, tenth and 16th, with a sole dropped shot coming at the par-4 seventh, which he had eagled on Thursday. “It was tough again today with the wind being up, but I just played brilliant and gave myself loads of good chances,” said the East Lothian-based player. “Probably my second best round to my third at the Fairmont when I won. I shot ten under and it started windier than it was today and got even windier. That was a bit special that day. But it’s definitely up there. “You don’t get so many of these days when things really happen for you and this season has been a bit of a struggle for the most part so to play some really good golf is really encouraging.” Forrest and his wife Christy became first-time parents towards the end of last year and, on the evidence of the past few weeks, son Spencer is helping him be a bit more relaxed on the golf course. “I felt quite relaxed coming into this week and I am quite comfortable in these conditions,” he said. Smith, who sits 16th on the European Ryder Cup points list and would considerably boost his hopes of being a rookie at Bethpage Black in September with a win this weekend, signed for five birdies and two bogeys in a second successive 69. “It's mentally really, really, really tough,” he said of Donald Trump’s Old Course in Balmedie. “It's just draining. You've got to be on it for the whole round and you can't really relax because there's wind constant for the whole round, so I'm happy how me and my caddie have done today and take that into the weekend, hopefully.” First-round leader Richard Sterne sits third on four under, with Daniel Young, last weekend’s Farmfoods Scottish Challenge winner, the next best among six Scots to make the cut on one under.