SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — There is a force skyrocketing to elite levels of golf, and his name is Chris Gotterup. A win on Sunday over Hideki Matsuyama in a one-hole sudden-death playoff at the WM Phoenix Open is only the latest evidence.
With the win, Gotterup becomes a four-time winner in his third year on the PGA Tour. With two victories in his last three starts — and three in his last 11 — there is a legitimate argument that the 26-year-old is one of the hottest players in the world. He is just getting started.
“I’m just really enjoying being out here right now, and I’m having fun,” Gotterup said. “I feel confident in what I’m doing and feel like I have played well enough to feel confident to be able to be in those positions. So far, I’ve been able to capitalize on those, and I’m excited for the rest of the year.”
Gotterup shot a 72-hole score of 16-under-par this week at TPC Scottsdale. It was his first made cut at the tournament, infamous for its weekend chaos, and he had his gaze fixed forward all week.
“It’s a good thing that there’s so many people,” Gotterup said. “You hear it, but it’s all — you have so much going through your brain, it’s almost like white noise.”
Gotterup grabbed the tournament lead early with an opening-round 63. Then he plodded through Friday and Saturday, shooting 71-70, in search of the hot putter that fueled his Thursday momentum. On Sunday, he not only found his mojo on the greens, but he played the famed closing stretch of the Stadium Course exactly as its designers intended: to tempt the golfer who dares to push its limits.
With birdies on five of the last six holes in regulation, Gotterup took the clubhouse lead and made sure that Scottie Scheffler was not going to steal a win after shooting a Sunday 64 that put him at 15-under. On No. 18, Gotterup nearly drove it into the right grandstands, but he followed it up by hitting his approach from stomped-down rough to 2 feet, 10 inches.
“For it to land perfectly on the green and roll up to three feet was definitely some luck involved for sure,” Gotterup said. “You don’t get those all the time.”
Chris Gotterup is one of the longest drivers on the PGA Tour. (Justin Edmonds / Getty Images)
Nearly an hour later, Matsuyama — a two-time winner at this event — walked onto the 18th tee with a stroke cushion. In between hitting some range balls off the first tee, Gotterup watched on an iPad as Matsuyama hit the lip of TPC Scottsdale’s oddly placed church-pew bunker, en route to a closing bogey.
The pair headed back to the 18th tee for a sudden-death playoff, and at the WM Phoenix Open, free golf cannot happen without fireworks. Gotterup, one of the longest hitters on tour, hit first, sending his drive down the right side of the fairway. Matsuyama followed, but a chair clattered onto the cart path at the very top of his backswing, causing him to pause at the apex of his swing and back away from the shot. A similar disruption occurred before his par putt on the 18th hole in regulation — but that time it was at the hand of a boisterous fan.
Matsuyama’s ensuing drive found the water. Advantage, Gotterup.
Gotterup could have closed out the tournament with a par, but the New Jersey native did not let that possibility play out. He drained a 27-foot putt for birdie.
As a long hitter with short-game prowess, Gotterup represents a unique blend of golfer. He ranks fourth in driving distance on the PGA Tour this year, and he gained 1.16 shots around the greens this week in Scottsdale, on top of 3.34 strokes gained tee to green.
Before one of his practice rounds to start the week, Gotterup consulted with PGA Tour short game coach Joe Mayo. He spent half an hour watching Gotterup, and Mayo came away from the session with one piece of advice for the young pro: Don’t change a thing.
“I said, there’s not a single thing that I can say to you that’s going to help you,” Mayo said. “I told his caddie, ‘Your job is to keep people away from this kid. Stay away from golf instructors.’”
— chris gotterup (@ChrisGotterup) February 9, 2026
Gotterup’s game holds up under pressure. That became apparent last summer when he edged past Rory McIlroy in the final pairing at the Scottish Open. He affirmed the trend when he finished tied for third place at the Open Championship aweek later. Fast forward to the beginning of 2026, and the run is full steam ahead. He won the season-opening Sony Open three weeks ago.
The tour’s newest star is a product of three seasons at Rutgers, followed by a jump to NCAA powerhouse Oklahoma for his senior year. There, Gotterup dominated, winning both the Haskins and Jack Nicklaus Awards for the top collegiate golfer. He turned professional that summer and earned his Korn Ferry Tour card for the 2023 season. Finishing inside the top 30 at the end of his Korn Ferry Tour season meant Gotterup was a card-holding PGA Tour member starting in 2024. That’s when his game started its steady climb to where it is today, including a Myrtle Beach Classic win that year.
“You get humbled a bit on Korn Ferry. Even when I got out here, you realize how good everyone is. I definitely knew I was a work in progress, and still am. But I knew that my game was suited for out here, and I knew if I continued to work, and at least had faith in what I was doing, that I would be able to be in the position someday,” Gotterup said. “To now I’ve won four times is pretty crazy.”