Chris Gotterup went toe-to-toe with Rory McIlroy and won the Genesis Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club on Sunday. Gotterup’s second PGA Tour victory was a big one, as it not only moved him well inside the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings, but also earned him a spot in the Open Championship at Royal Portrush this week.
“It’s just awesome,” said an emotional Gotterup. “I’m not going to be able to keep it together.”
The American – a former Haskins Award and Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the top collegiate golfer in 2022 as a senior at Oklahoma – shot 15-under par that included a course-record tying 9-under 61 in the second round. His Sunday 66 left him two ahead of McIlroy and Marco Penge in the end. It was Gotterup’s second PGA Tour victory, with his first having come at the opposite-field 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic. The two wins are his only top-10 finishes in his last 57 starts.
"So they are both very special. The first is the first, and I feel like a lot of people say that the second one is harder just because you have expectations and whatnot. It's definitely more a validation this week," Gotterup said. "Myrtle Beach was amazing, but this one, I feel like I've been talking to my team about I want to take the next step, and I feel like this is part of that."
McIlroy, who started Sunday tied for the lead with Gotterup, closed with a 68, failing to make a birdie over the last 10 holes.
After the first round, both Gotterup and McIlroy found themselves at 2-under, four strokes off the lead. Gotterup exploded in the second round with a bogey-free 61. It was Gotterup’s best round on the PGA Tour and equaled the Renaissance Club course record held by four other players, most recently Richard Mansell in the final round last year.
“I had a hard time getting up all week so it took some motivation getting up at 5:15 [a.m.] or whatever it was,” Gotterup said after the second round. “I definitely got off to a slow start (Thursday) and finished strong and tried to carry that over into today. Like I said, obviously I found a little something out there today.”
At 11-under, Gotterup held a two-shot 36-hole lead over second-place Harry Hall. He led McIlroy, who shot 65 Friday, by four shots.
Gotterup stalled in the third round, shooting even par with two birdies and two bogeys. Meanwhile, McIlroy surged, shooting 66 with five birdies and one bogey. After 54 holes, Gotterup and McIlroy led the field at 11-under, two shots better than four players.
"Knew today was going to be a battle and Rory is one of the best to ever do it. Happy I edged him out."
Chris Gotterup
Sunday was a battle with several lead changes after the final group teed off. McIlroy took the lead after Gotterup found a fairway bunker and made bogey on the first.
Gotterup took the lead after he birdied the third while McIlroy made bogey. For a brief moment, Gotterup, McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jake Knapp and Penge all topped the leaderboard.
At the turn, McIlroy and Gotterup led the field at 13-under. On the 10th, Gotterup made his third birdie in four holes to get to 14-under and move ahead. Then, the American hit a brilliant tee shot to 3 feet on the par-3 12th, making birdie and opening a two-shot lead over the Northern Irishman.
Gotterup bogeyed the 15th but restored his two-shot lead with a birdie on 16. A good par save on 17 essentially sealed the victory.
“Knew today was going to be a battle and Rory is one of the best to ever do it. Happy I edged him out,” said Gotterup. “It wasn't going to be an easy day. There was a pretty bunched ... there was bunch of guys at 9. So I knew someone was going to do something. So yeah, I really settled in nicely to the round after the first hole, and didn't really look back.”
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler struggled with his putter but still finished T8, his 10th consecutive top-10 finish.
There were two holes-in-one during the tournament. Romain Langasque aced the 14th on Saturday and Nico Echavarria aced the sixth on Sunday.
The top three finishers in the Scottish Open not already exempt for the Open Championship earned spots in the final major of the year via the Open Qualifying Series. In addition to Gotterup, Nicolai Højgaard and Matti Schmid secured berths at Royal Portrush this week.
Everett Munez