[Photo] Icon Sportswire
Chris Gotterup broke par for the first time in his life at 13, and as a reward, his father took him and his brother to Pebble Beach Golf Links. When he tees it up Thursday in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Gotterup again will have earned his way here to this iconic stretch of golf landscape, not as a wide-eyed teenager but as the No. 5 player in the world.
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Gotterup, the hottest man in golf next to Scottie Scheffler, makes his debut in this $20 million (AUD $32 million) signature event, fresh off his second PGA Tour win in three starts this year with a play-off victory over Hideki Matsuyama at the WM Phoenix Open. His first round will be at Pebble Beach at 1:16 p.m. ET with Wyndham Clark in the field of 80 professionals paired with amateurs.
With four wins in the last three seasons, more than anyone except for Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, Gotterup is still adjusting to his meteoric rise in the game. “I think everyone understands out here how hard it is to win,” Gotterup, 26, said Wednesday at Pebble Beach. “We were joking around, Scottie was following me at lunch and he’s like, ‘I’m just going to eat what you’re eating.’ I was like, yeah, he’s doing pretty good on his own, so I’m not too worried about him.”
Can there be any higher compliment?
“I’m just trying to keep my head on straight and not get too over my skis,” he said, “and obviously get ready for the first signature event of the year and try to keep what I’ve been doing rolling.”
Gotterup has played five rounds at Pebble and competed in a college event while at the University of Oklahoma. But that first round with his dad obviously is special. He shot two-under 69 at Rumson Country Club in New Jersey to earn the trip. “I have the scorecard somewhere in my house,” he said. “I don’t remember exactly. I have it somewhere, but my mum’s like got it framed and it’s in the basement somewhere at the house.
“It’s one of those things that it was my first time like being a decent player and getting to like play a place like this and enjoying it rather than being a young kid and not really know what you’re doing,” he said of that initial trip to the Monterey Peninsula. “I was able to appreciate the history and the greatness of this place.”
The question now is how much he appreciates how far he has come in such short order. He does. He’s a fairly grounded young man. Mention his bank account, and he said he hasn’t even looked at it. (Almost $3.5 million (AUD $5.6 million) has been deposited into it this year.) “I’ve got everything I need so far,” he said.
As for his accomplishments, he’d rather be looking ahead than think about being fifth in the world or taking much satisfaction from four wins—including three in his last 10 starts going back to the Genesis Scottish Open in July. There’s his Masters debut coming up in April and he’d definitely welcome a spot on the U.S. Presidents Cup team in September at Medinah Country Club. He is fourth in the standings.
“I think it was funny, after I won, someone said, ‘You’re No. 5 in the world now.’ It’s just a number, but it is crazy to think about, especially to your point before, it’s like I think missing a couple cuts the start of my second year, I don’t think I was inside the top 200,” Gotterup said. “I don’t think I get too caught up in it all. I try to focus on what’s in front of me and this week obviously is a big week for everyone.
Chris Gotterup is congratulated by Hideki Matsuyama after winning WM Phoenix Open in a playoff.
[Photo] Justin Edmonds
All that stuff is very cool, there’s no denying that, but it doesn’t stop what we’re trying to do,” he continued. “My coach [Jason Birnbaum] texted me, he was saying … obviously enjoy Sunday, but I want you to get out there and do some combines and send me some texts and make sure you’re doing your stuff still and not get too caught up in everything. Everyone keeps me in check, and I try to keep myself in check for the most part, too.”
Apparently, that’s not as hard as it seems. He didn’t envision the leap he has made, rising so far in the World Ranking to be the second-best American player, collecting multiple wins and having Scottie Scheffler copy his diet. It’s a lot to digest.
“Not to say that I didn’t ever … like, I mean everyone out here will say that they’re chasing to be the best version of themselves and you never know how high you can go,” Gotterup said. “I still think I’m chasing the best version of myself on the golf course. I think a year or two ago I definitely was putting pieces together, and I still am putting pieces together, but to see it kind of like build as it has is exciting.”
Impressive, too.
