There might not be a hotter golfer on the PGA Tour than Chris Gotterup. He came from behind and beat Hideki Matsuyama in a one-hole playoff between the two. The win was Gotterup's fourth on the PGA Tour and signaled that, aside from Scottie Scheffler, no one comes close to how well he has been playing recently. He followed that win up with a great start at Pebble Beach.
“Golf Digest” posted that following his come-from-behind win, Gotterup started Pebble Beach by hitting six straight birdies. It was an incredible start out of the gate, following the way he won the Phoenix Open, and it announced to the rest of the PGA Tour that Gotterup is here to stay as a contender, despite how young he is.
Gotterup is the fifth-ranked golfer in the world. He's the second-highest-ranked American, behind only world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Gotterup's four victories in the past four seasons are more than any other golfer on tour except Scheffler and reigning Masters champion Rory McIlroy. Gotterup has won three times in his past 10 starts dating back to last year.
“I'm just trying to keep my head on straight and not get too over my skis,” Gotterup said.
Gotterup's rise in golf has been meteoric, especially given that he did not even qualify last year to play at Pebble Beach as the 206th-ranked golfer in the world.
Scheffler, whose 20 career victories on tour include four majors, stood behind Gotterup in the lunch line at Pebble Beach earlier this week.
“I'm just going to eat what you're eating,” Scheffler joked.
“He's doing pretty good on his own, so I'm not too worried about him,” said Gotterup, who also won the season-opening Sony Open in Hawaii by two strokes on Jan. 18.
The next big tournament for Gotterup is the Masters in April. He has been to Augusta, Georgia, to attend sponsor events during previous Masters weeks, but he declined to attend the tournament as a spectator. He wanted to wait to see the Augusta National Golf Club course for the first time as a competitor.
“I didn't want to go on property until I played for real,” Gotterup said. “This time, I'll happily go over.”
