Scottie Scheffler may be the clear number one golfer in the world right now, but even he could not help but be impressed by Chris Gotterup securing his second win of the season at the WM Phoenix Open.
Chris Gotterup has been the star of the opening weeks of the 2026 PGA Tour season. He won the curtain-raiser at the Sony Open in Hawaii before adding another victory at TPC Scottsdale.
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It was a superb performance from Gotterup. He made five birdies in his final six holes to take the clubhouse lead and ultimately end up in a playoff with Hideki Matsuyama at the WM Phoenix Open.
And with Matsuyama’s driving continuing to let him down, the 26-year-old was able to win and move himself up to number five in the world rankings.
Scottie Scheffler certainly seems to be an admirer of his countryman.
What Scottie Scheffler did after Chris Gotterup won the WM Phoenix Open
Gotterup and Scheffler played together over the first two rounds in Arizona. Meanwhile, the four-time major champion ended up just one shot short of making the playoff.
And speaking to the media ahead of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am about the reaction to his win, Gotterup shared how Scheffler has been behaving since.
“Yeah, it’s been awesome. I think everyone understands out here how hard it is to win. 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,” he said.
“Yeah, it’s fun. You know, everyone at home, I haven’t been home in a while so it’s nice to hear from everyone. I think my parents are coming out today. Yeah, it’s been fun to share it with everyone.
“At some point when we get some time off I’ll go home and celebrate with everyone. Yeah, it’s been a lot of fun.”
What impresses Gotterup most about Scheffler
Gotterup can take so much encouragement from his latest performance. He outscored Scheffler by 10 shots on the opening day.
And just when it appeared that it would be Scheffler looking to snatch the tournament from nowhere on Sunday, Gotterup came through with an even more impressive run to move ahead.
Nevertheless, Gotterup was full of praise for the 29-year-old when asked what impressed him most about Scheffler.
“I think there’s a couple things, but I think for me, having played with him last week, the first round he struggled. And he would say that, too. But to go back out there the next round and know that he’s going to play well. This is what I’ve tried to do a much better job of, too, is wash the first round, don’t carry the first round into the rest of the week. The first round’s gone, reset and go shoot, I don’t know what he shot the next round, five, six under. Don’t let it carry over and then the next round’s another even and then you’re all upset and missing the cut, then it carries into the next week, the next week,” he said.
It’s just wash it away. Try to wash it away and just be ready to go for the next day. And if it goes well, great. If not, it’s more just I think the mindset of he’s not out of the tournament even if he – I don’t know what place he was in but obviously not where he would want to be after the first round. I think that’s impressive. I think a lot of guys would agree.”
It is probably fair to say that no one is on Scheffler’s level on a consistent basis right now. However, Gotterup now knows that when his game is on, he has the talent to compete with the best player on the planet.
