Forrest top Scot as MacIntyre laments "horrific" Scottish Open defence
'I didn't have my best stuff, especially over the weekend, but I just tried to do the best with what I had and dug in,' said the 32-year-old.
It's not been a vintage campaign for Forrest but, in this pursuit of fine margins, every little helps and a solid enough week on home soil gives him something to build on.
Watching Rose go about his composed, clinical business, meanwhile, certainly gave Forrest plenty of food for thought.
'It was seriously impressive,' added the former Scottish Amateur champion, who earned the Jock MacVicar Memorial Trophy as the pick of the tartan troops.
'Getting to play with guys like him is always good. You can see why he's been at the top for so long.
'I played with Lee Westwood here in 2019 and I felt the same about him. Justin hits the ball so accurately and consistently. He only missed one shot today.
'He has total control of the ball. You can see why he's had the success and the longevity at this level. It's good to see the standard that he is at and it can drive you on. But I have work to do.'
Forrest, who won his maiden DP World Tour title at St Andrews back in 2021, was languishing down in 124th place on the Race to Dubai coming into the domestic showpiece and a sturdy finish will, at least, get him inching in the right direction.
After a brief break, he'll gird himself for a hectic run of events that will make or break his season.
'Once I start up again, I'll only have about two weeks off until November,' he said. 'That's a lot of golf. There are a lot of events and some big points still to play for so I'm not looking at the rankings just now.
'But the way I've played this year, I deserve to be where I am. I need to improve and start playing better.'
A little tonic was provided by his old sparring partner, David Law, who lost his DP World Tour card last season but went a long way to bouncing back with a fine victory on the second-tier HotelPlanner Tour in the Czech Republic yesterday.
'It's magic,' beamed Forrest. 'My wife told me when we were out on the course. He must be close to getting back on the DP World Tour again, so that's another inspiration for me. I need to get my finger out and make sure I'm out the main tour with him.'
This time last year, Robert MacIntyre coasted over to The Open at Royal Troon on a wave of Scottish Open-winning euphoria.
Today, he'll board a ferry to Portrush hoping that the crossing is not too choppy after a trying, disappointing title defence in East Lothian.
'I'm not a boat guy and I hope I don't get seasick,' said the Oban man with a wry smile.
He wasn't feeling particularly chipper on dry land last night after a closing one-over 71 left him down on a two-over total.
'Horrific, a terrible week,' was MacIntyre's summing up of affairs. On a firm, fiery Renaissance course that was like a yellow brick road, the 28-year-old felt some equipment issues hindered his progress.
'This is as firm as the course has been,' he added before explaining the technicalities. 'There are some equipment things I need to learn from because it's the first time I've played with these irons in concrete conditions.
'I'd moved into these irons for softer conditions, and I couldn't get the strike, I couldn't get the ball flight in the sky, I couldn't stop it, and so that side of it was annoying me.
'I was just getting too much bounce on this turf with my clubs and it
started to affect my distances and yardage control. Winning last year is a memory that will last a lifetime. But this was just a poor week.'
We move on quickly in this game, of course. MacIntyre's return to Portrush this week is being eagerly anticipated.
'It's on to probably my favourite links golf course in the world,' he said of the Antrim venue where he finished tied sixth on his Open Championship debut back in 2019.
Happy sailing.
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This does, I realise, sound somewhat hyperbolic. But it's also true. What Onley has achieved, and how he's performed over the 3300-or-so kilometres of this year's Tour, is phenomenal and given how difficult it is to excel in the GC of the Tour de France, has exceeded even the most optimistic of predictions as to how the Scot could do in this race. Despite his relative inexperience - this is only his second Tour de France - Onley has continued to produce the goods day after day and, astonishingly, the 22-year-old seemed to get stronger, better and more formidable with every passing stage. Oscar Onley has made a real breakthrough in this year's Tour de France (Image: LOIC VENANCE/ Getty Images) The mark of a truly great grand tour rider is to be able to ride like they don't have thousands of kilometres in their legs. It's an almost impossible feat. Yet Onley has managed it with apparent ease. 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His top-40 finish in the general classification standings in last year's Tour, as well as a number of impressive results since his Tour debut, certainly indicated that he had the potential to be a very good grand tour rider as he gained experience and matured but even he, when I spoke to him for Herald Sport ahead of this Tour, asserted he believed going for stage wins rather than a tilt at GC honours was a more realistic aim this year. Whether he truly believed he wasn't ready for a GC push, or was just keeping expectations low, we'll never know. But however quietly confident he felt going into this year's Tour, it does seem that he's exceeded even his most lofty of aspirations. (Image: Getty Images) To put into context what Onley has achieved over the past three weeks, we must look at the history of Scots in the Tour de France. A handful of Scottish men rode the Tour in the 1950s and 60s but it wasn't until the 1980s and Philippa York, who was known back then as Robert Millar, who really put road racing on the map in Scotland. York was crowned King of the Mountains in 1984, as well as finishing fourth in the GC that year. She rode the Tour several more times in the 1980s and into the 90s but never matched that fourth-place finish. David Millar won four Tour stages between 2000 and 2012, but by the end of three weeks of racing, never troubled the GC standings. And this year, Onley was joined by his compatriot, Sean Flynn, who also produced a creditable performance to finish well inside the top 150 in the GC. So York's fourth-place finish in the Tour's GC standings, a whopping 41 years ago, was, until today, the single best-ever result by a Scot. For Onley to have matched this at the age of only 22, and in only his second Tour, is truly mind-boggling. What the Kelso man has achieved over the past three weeks is not only a huge personal achievement, though, it also has far-reaching significance in terms of the impact it could potentially have on road racing in this country. In the space of only three weeks, Onley has single-handedly reminded people in this country that track cycling is not the only discipline on two wheels in which Scots can be successful. I'm not going quite so far as to suggest this one result will create a boom in cycling in this country, but the value of having a successful grand tour rider, and particularly a successful Tour de France rider, cannot be underestimated. It's not a given that Onley's career trajectory will be consistently upwards from here, but the early signs couldn't be more promising. The fact that the 2027 [[Tour de France]] will visit Scotland - the Grand Depart begins in Edinburgh - is perfect timing for both Onley and for the sport in this country. 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