Chris Gotterup earns second career win with victory at Scottish Open

Miami Herald

6 days ago

The biggest win of Chris Gotterup's career brought an emotional response.
Gotterup shot a 4-under par 66 to outduel Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and win the Genesis Scottish Open on Sunday at North Berwick, Scotland.
'This is awesome,' Gotterup said, fighting back tears. 'I'm not going to be able to keep it together.'
But he kept it together at key moments in the final round. Gotterup's 15-under 265 total was two strokes better than McIlroy and England's Marco Penge at The Renaissance Club.
Gotterup won for the second time on the PGA Tour. Sunday's outcome guaranteed him a spot during the coming week in The Open Championship.
Penge shot 66 in the final round and McIlroy posted 68.
McIlroy, aiming to win the tournament for the second time in three years, led after back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes. But after a birdie on No. 8, he had pars across each of the last 10 holes.
'Chris played a great round of golf,' McIlroy said. 'He was so solid. Made the bogey on 15 but bounced back with a really nice birdie on 16. Yeah, after he got a couple ahead, I just couldn't claw back.'
Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard (64) and England's Matt Fitzpatrick (67) shared fourth place at 12 under.
Gotterup used four birdies on a six-hole stretch ending at No. 12 to move to the top. He held a two-shot edge until his bogey on No. 15, where he hit his tee shot in the rough.
But on the next hole, Gotterup rolled in a 10-foot birdie for a two-shot advantage again. He sensed it was a key situation.
'This is it,' he said of the moment, 'and it went right in the center.'
Gotterup said he was most proud of how he held steady during the crucial stretches.
'It's just so cool,' he said. 'I played really well this week, and I knew today was going to be tough. I hung in there like a champ and finished it off in style.'
Now with the opportunity to stay in Europe and play in The Open Championship, Gotterup will show up with new-found confidence.
'I was a one-time champion,' he said. 'Two-time champ sounds a lot better. I know what I'm capable of and I know when I feel the way I did today, I can beat the best.'
McIlroy, the Masters champion, said he's in a good groove as he looks ahead to the coming week as he'll try to win a major for the second time this year.
'It has been a great week,' he said. 'Missing the trophy, that's about it.'
Like Gotterup, Hojgaard also secured a spot in the Open Championship based on his work in Scotland.
'I knew what was on the line,' Hojgaard said. 'I did the same thing in '23, actually. So I've done it before, and I kind of knew my game was in a good place.'
The best round of the day belonged to England's Justin Rose, who shot 63 and moved to sixth place at 11 under, which was one shot better than Austria's Sepp Straka (67).
'That's maybe about as clean a round as I've played all year to be honest with you,' Rose said. 'People think about the Masters but there were a few bogeys in there whereas today was 7 birdies, virtually no long putts holed. It was just a very, very clean round of golf.'
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finished tied for eighth at 9 under after his second 67 of the tournament.
Colombia's Nico Echavarria, who began on the back nine, hit a hole-in-one on the par-3 sixth hole, with the ball dribbling into the cup. He had a 67 for the round and was at 5 under for the tournament.
'It's a tiny, tiny small part of the green where the pin is, and decided to go right at it,' Echavarria said. 'Good line by the caddie.'
Defending champion Robert MacIntyre of Scotland had a 71 for the second time in the tournament and finished at 2 over and tied for 65th.
Because of weather concerns mostly related to fog, tee times were moved up and golfers were placed in threesomes.
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