Dustin Johnson’s decision to play in the first ever LIV Golf event was arguably the biggest blow to the PGA Tour, with the American the highest ranked player in the field at Centurion.

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He had won 24 times on the PGA Tour, including two major titles. His most recent victories before joining LIV Golf came at the Tour Championship and The Masters.

While Johnson has not exactly been an overwhelming success on LIV, he is one player plenty of PGA Tour fans would love to see back in the future.

The good news for those fans is that one youngster has been compared with the 4Aces captain.

PGA Tour star compared with Dustin Johnson

The 2026 PGA Tour season kicked off at Waialae this past week. It was Chris Gotterup who won the Sony Open in Hawaii by two shots after posting a 64 on Sunday.

Gotterup has established himself as someone to watch over the last 12 months in particular. He won the Scottish Open in hugely impressive fashion last year, with Rory McIlroy missing out at The Renaissance Club.

And following his win on Sunday, Smylie Kaufman suggested on The Smylie Show that the sky is the limit for Gotterup.

“He’s got the tools. He’s got the superpower of being an incredible driver of the golf ball. A really cool customer too. I kind of like his moxie too, the way he carries himself, that swagger. It reminds me a lot of Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka. He’s got this masculinity and strength to him when you watch him that seems intimidating as well,” he said.

“He’s won a PGA Tour event in every season he’s been on the PGA Tour now and Steve Sands gave a pretty good stat of there’s five or six players, a lot of names that you would recognise: Jon Rahm, Tom Kim, Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa, players that have done similar to him. So he’s in that elite company of players who’ve played very well early in their PGA Tour career – and also have won.

“What does that do for him moving forward, the future, the whole big picture with Chris Gotterup? I wouldn’t say that Chris Gotterup is just going to go out and now he’s going to win a major championship. He has all the tools to go and do that.

“I think for Chris, it’s just about staying focused. I think Chris is a player that continues to build confidence and if he’s just able to focus on the things that he can control, he can take his game to heights maybe even he could not have dreamed of.”

Chris Gotterup has matched one achievement from the early stages of Dustin Johnson’s career

It says something that Gotterup has been put in a similar category as Johnson and Koepka, even if it is the way he carries himself on the course.

But he has also backed it up with some amazing performances. The win at the Scottish Open really appeared to come from nowhere. And many players would have folded with McIlroy chasing them down in the final round.

Funnily enough, Johnson won in each of his first three years as a full member of the PGA Tour – something that Gotterup managed with his victory at Waialae.

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Gotterup began his 2026 in fine style with a win at the Sony Open…

It was another six years before Johnson finally won his first major.

It is not going to be easy for Gotterup to replicate that in an era when the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are dominating.

But his third place finish at last year’s Open Championship was a further reminder of his potential.

It should come as no surprise, therefore, if Gotterup does get across the line in one of the sport’s four biggest events.