Victor Perez and Grant Forrest had to make birdie at the par-4 18th to avoid a playoff \u2014 or force their own \u2014 at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid and win the Open de Espa\u00f1a on Sunday.<\/p>\n
With pressure mounting, Perez rolled his third shot past the hole before settling for par. Moments later, Forrest knocked down his birdie attempt to win the tournament as well as qualify for the 2027 Masters and the 2027 Open Championship at St. Andrews.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fairy tale stuff,\u201d Forrest said on the 18th green. \u201cTo be going to Augusta, I can\u2019t get my head around it. I was close in The Amateur championship 11 years ago. You can have a great career in this game and still never get to go to Augusta so I cannot believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forrest made three bogeys on his front nine and only got back to even par in the final round when he birdied the par-5 14th. Nonetheless, his 1-under 70 was enough to hold off a crowded leaderboard.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt was just a matter of keeping yourself in it, and I think we did that really well by getting a couple of putts to go at the right time,\u201d said Forrest. \u201cJust stuck in there so well despite a few frustrating things.\u201d<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s Eugenio Chacarra, playing through a broken toe this week<\/a> in front of his hometown fans in Madrid, birdied the final hole to take the clubhouse lead at 13 under.<\/p>\n