There are two things we’ve learned so far in this new 2026 season, though one might be a little more surprising than the other.
One: Scottie Scheffler is still very good and significantly better than everyone else. Scheffler opened his season at American Express a few weeks ago and won by four. He made his second start at the WM Phoenix Open last week and finished just one shot out of a playoff – despite posting an uncharacteristic 73 on Thursday, six strokes higher than his worst round over the next three days.
And two? Chris Gotterup is for true.
If you were busy preparing for your Super Bowl watch party or fine-tuning your appearances and missed Sunday’s finish, here’s the gist of what you missed: We’re just four events into the PGA Tour season, and Gotterup has now won half from them. He is ranked 5th in the world and is the second highest ranking American behind Scheffler.
In 2024, Gotterup won the Myrtle Beach Classic for his first Tour victory, though it went largely unnoticed by golf’s larger audience as it was an alternate-course event and ended on the same day Rory McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship. Gotterup then failed to crack the top 50 in his next eight events; he could have easily been a one-hit wonder.
“I definitely knew I was a work in progress, and I still am,” Gotterup said Sunday after he shot a final-round 64 and later defeated Hideki Matsuyama in a playoff. “But I knew my game was right for here and I knew if I kept working and at least had faith in what I was doing that I would be able to be in this position one day. To say I’ve won four times is pretty crazy.”
Fast forward to July 2025, and Gotterup – this time playing in the same tournament as McIlroy – outplayed the newly crowned Masters champion at the Scottish Open for victory no. 2 in career. That made for a good story for the 26-year-old former Rutgers and Oklahoma golfer, but there are plenty of those throughout the golf season.
Everything he’s done since, however, has proven that he’s much more than that.
He finished third at the Open Championship a week after the Scottish Open and tied for 10th a week later at the 3M Open. He also added a T10 to the Tour Championship and finished the season with a whole new slate of tournaments unlocked for 2026. They haven’t even started yet — he’ll play Signature Events like Pebble, Genesis and Bay Hill for the first time next month — and he’s already proven himself worthy of a spot on the pre-tournament conference schedule.
He wasted little time remembering that 2025 was no fluke, as he opened the season by winning Sony Open. After a top 20 at Farmers and now a playoff win at Phoenix, he has won three times in his last 10 starts.
Sunday’s win included birdies on five of his last six holes, and he again made 18 to beat Matuyama on the first extra hole.
“I’m just really enjoying being here right now and having fun,” said Gotterup, who is ranked second on Tour in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee. “I feel confident in what I’m doing and I feel like I’ve played well enough to feel confident to be able to be in those positions. So far, I’ve been able to take advantage of them and I’m excited for the rest of the year.”
In addition to earning entry into a handful of Signature Events, Gotterup will also make his Masters debut two months from now.
After his win on Sunday, Gotterup was met by CBS reporter Amanda Balionis for the mandatory winner’s interview.
“We saw it at the Scottish Open,” she began, “when the moment is the biggest, when your back is against the wall, that’s when it shows up. Where does that come from?”
“You know, a lot of hard work,” Gotterup said, before pausing to calm his emotions. “You make me cry every time.”
With the run he’s been on, you’d think he’d be used to it by now.
