logo
Scottish Open winner's blood boils over 'shocking' warning he was slapped with before outgunning Rory

Scottish Open winner's blood boils over 'shocking' warning he was slapped with before outgunning Rory

Daily Recorda day ago
Chris Gotterup produced a brilliant last-day 66 to storm to victory at the Genesis Scottish Open but something got his back up
Supervillian Chris Gotterup used boiling blood to fuel his Renaissance glory.
But, with an Open place booked, flights home diverted to Royal Portrush and the enormity of success hitting home, rage turned into emotionally-charged tears.

Gotterup produced a brilliant last-day 66 to storm to victory at the Genesis Scottish Open.

Not only did he win, the 25-year-old outgunned Rory McIlroy to do so as he beat the World No,2 by two shots on Sunday to win.
Gotterup had seen pictures of the Northern Irish superstar around the course and in the gym as a past champion and the Scots fans were also firmly in the Grand Slam star's corner.
But, despite it all, the man ranked World No.158 going into the tournament had all the the answers, even if he vehemently questioned being pulled up on a slow-play warning on the back nine.
It brought a furiously good finale as he explained: 'We got warned on like 13 for pace, which was a little odd because we were waiting all day.
"Then on 15, I got individually timed, which was shocking. And so that got my blood going a little bit more than it was already going trying to win a golf tournament.
'I talked all week about how I didn't birdie 16 and I knew that's going to be the hole. I had a 10-footer or whatever it was for birdie, I made it and I felt like that was the point where it was my tournament to lose.

'I definitely was the villain out there a little bit. There was a lot of 'Rory' and not many 'Chris.' I felt like I was ready and prepared mentally. It feels great.
'Hitting it in the bunker on the first hole, I'm like: Oh sh*t, here we go. But I held it together really well.
'It's just so cool. I played really well this week, I hung in there like a champ and finished it off in style.

'Rory is one of the best to ever do it. Happy I edged him out. Amazing. I know this tournament is special to Scotland and everyone in the golf world for the most part.
'You look at the names on the board, they have it in the gym every day and I'm happy to put my name up next to those guys.
'It won't settle in until everything kind of works out. We'll be going to Portrush, be right back at it. It will be nice when I get back home at some point and really process all that happened.'

Gotterup was due to play in the Barracuda Championship in California, but instead he'll be amongst the elite at The 153rd Championship.
He sat at the winners press conference suggesting he'd cancel the US flights there and then and as he smiled: 'I might do it right now in front of you! It's great. I'm happy to be playing my first Open next week. It's great.
'I'm excited to go up to Portrush. But I'm happy I'm not flying from here to California, that's for sure!'

Dane Nicolai Hojgaard and German Matti Schmid also secured Open places, but none had a trophy to also take with them and Gotterup, who won last year's Myrtle Beach Classic, said: 'They are both very special. The first is the first,and I feel like a lot of people say that the second one is harder just because you have expectations and whatnot. It's definitely more a validation this week.'
It caught Gotterup during his on-green interview at the presentation. At one stage he said: 'I'm not going to be able to keep it together.' When another inquiry into what it means was made to him, he then said: 'Yeah, thanks for getting me to cry again.'
Expanding later in the media centre, he said: 'Myrtle Beach was amazing, but this one, I feel like I've been talking to my team about I want to take the next step and I feel like this is part of that.

'I think that's probably why I got choked up. You win early in the year and you're like: All right, I'm going to kick it into gear here. And then just kind of do a whole lot of nothing until the end of the year.
'My hand started hurting me. I had surgery a couple years ago and I was like: Oh, here we go again. I took three months off and taking the time off was important. I definitely felt a little burnt out. I just had fun this year.'
Gotterup had the additional bonus of having an old college coach there to witness the success and he said: 'He texted me a video last night. I don't even remember, somewhere in Europe, some airport. I'm sure he was doing some recruiting. He went out and was like, I'm coming to Scotland. I'm like, awesome, see you tomorrow.
'He's the guy that gave me my first kind of chance. I shouldn't say first chance. He believed in me way before a lot of other people did, besides my parents. For him to be here and see that unfold is pretty cool.
'I was a one-time champion. 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. It's just awesome.'
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

What Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry really think about each other as Irish pair gear up for Open battle
What Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry really think about each other as Irish pair gear up for Open battle

Daily Record

time8 hours ago

  • Daily Record

What Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry really think about each other as Irish pair gear up for Open battle

The brilliant Irish pair are close pals on and off the golf course and they've both spoken about their relationship Buddies Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry have become best pals in recent times. The Irish pair have won individual titles as well as teaming-up for triumphs at The Ryder Cup and The Zurich Classic. ‌ Ahead of the Open at Royal Portrush, McIlroy and Lowry gave an insight into what they admire most about each other. ‌ McIlroy was first in the media room and said: 'We've always been close, but I think we've become very close over the last sort of five or six years. "I think once we both had kids, or at least once I had kids or had a daughter and I see how Shane is with his daughters, and I just think, when I say like a role model, I just think about how he is off the course, how he is able to separate his family life and his normal life from his golfing life. 'Look, I know I'm in a bit of a different position, so it may be a little bit more difficult for me, but it's definitely a place that I strive to be in, to be as comfortable getting away from it as he is in a way and enjoying the fruits of your success and sharing that with your loved ones. That's one of my New Year's resolutions was to have more fun. I think Shane is very good at having fun, and I need more of that in my life.' Lowry gave his response on McIlroy's best trait and said: 'I think his constant work ethic. We have become quite close over the last number of years and I think it's helped both of us. I think I help him, but he helps me as well. I think I certainly feel like I've learned a lot from his work ethic and how I apply myself to the game now. 'Where we live in Florida, there's a lot of players that live there and you go up to the range and there's never a day that goes by where you get there and some of the top players in the world are not there. ‌ "So you're like, well, if all these guys are here, we need to be doing it as well. I think my biggest thing, he's done everything there is to do in the game. He finished that in April. And his constant drive to get better every day is admirable.' Lowry won in 2019 as McIlroy missed the cut and the 2019 winner said: 'I reckon that first tee that morning in 2019 was the most nervous I've ever been on the first tee of a tournament. All you want to do is get the ball down the fairway and obviously Rory didn't do that. 'I remember talking to him a little bit in the lead-up to that and he did put a lot of pressure on himself, talking about it being the biggest tournament he's ever going to play and stuff like that. You live and you learn and I'm sure he's not going to do that this week. 'We've talked about it at the odd time but not that much. He doesn't want to talk about what he did on the first hole. I don't mind talking about what I did!'

Shane Lowry reveals exactly what is needed 'to be all right' at The Open
Shane Lowry reveals exactly what is needed 'to be all right' at The Open

Scotsman

time9 hours ago

  • Scotsman

Shane Lowry reveals exactly what is needed 'to be all right' at The Open

2019 winner jokes that he's been playing too well in build up to his Royal Portrush return Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Shane Lowry has returned to Royal Portrush, scene of his memorable win in 2019, worried that he has peaked too early for the 153rd Open this week. 'I'm feeling great the last two days, so that's not great,' he said, laughing, in his pre-event press conference on the County Antrim coast on Monday afternoon. 'No, honestly, I've had a great week of practice. I just need to play s*** for the next couple of days, and I'll be all right!' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Unlike Rory McIlroy, his close friend, and lots of other big names, Lowry decided to skip last week's Genesis Scottish Open in East Lothian, opting to play some courses on Irish soil instead in preparation for the season's final major. Shane Lowry speaks to the media during a press conference prior to The 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush |'In the last two weeks, I've played Portmarnock, The Island, Baltray, Waterville, Hogs Head and Adare Manor. So I've played some of the best courses we have in the country,' he reported. 'I've only played Scotland once in the last eight or ten years, and then I went to Hoylake and missed the cut. That didn't work out well. So I went and I parked myself down in Waterville last week. 'I played golf every day, played a lot of golf. The weather was almost too good, that was the issue. There wasn't enough wind. The sun was shining too much and it was too warm. But it's been an amazing couple of weeks. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I haven't been home to Ireland since Christmas as well, so I've had a nice time being back home the last three weeks and feel a little bit rejuvenated and ready to go again. I've had a busy season, and it's about to be another kind of busy next three or four months, as well. I feel like I'm ready to go again.' 'Great to be back' for Lowry Lowry stormed to a six-shot success in 2019, having taken the event by the scruff of the neck with a third-round 63 and never looking as though he would be caught thereafter. 'It's great to be back,' he said, smiling. 'I was here last year for the first time, but I was here a couple weeks ago and all the grandstands were up and that's when everything really starts to flow back to you. It was pretty cool to kind of get that out of the way. 'Then I came up here yesterday, I played nine holes last night and nine this morning, and great memories. But obviously I know that's quite a while ago, and no matter what I done then, it doesn't give me any God-given right to do anything special this week. I just need to get my head down on Thursday morning and get after it and see what happens.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Rory McIlroy speaks to the media at Royal Portrush on Monday | Tom Russo Not far from the entrance to Royal Portrush, an enormous mural of Lowry holding the Claret Jug has been painted on the side of a house. 'I'm happy I have to drive the other way. I don't have to drive past it every day,' he joked of that. Meanwhile, local hero McIlroy is determined to embrace being the centre of attention this week after suffering the disappointment of a missed cut six years ago. 'I think in 2019, I probably tried to isolate,' said the grand slam winner after playing his first practice round. 'And I think it's better for everyone if I embrace it. I think it's better for me.

Rory McIlroy recalls horror opening round at nightmare 2019 Open
Rory McIlroy recalls horror opening round at nightmare 2019 Open

Daily Mirror

time10 hours ago

  • Daily Mirror

Rory McIlroy recalls horror opening round at nightmare 2019 Open

Northern Ireland star Rory McIlroy opens up on the first tee shot at Open in 2019 at Royal Portrush and how the adulation of the crowd unnerved him before he got going Rory McIlroy stood on the first tee in 2019 at Royal Portrush as the course record holder with his home nation watching and waiting. It should have been a moment to dream of and remember forever but it turned into a nightmare. McIlroy shot a 61 on this track as a 16-year-old prodigy but here he was back as a four-time Major champion at 30 looking to win the Claret Jug in his homeland. ‌ Yet when his tee shot which started as a slight draw turned into a nasty hook thanks to the high winds and sailed out of bounds, he would never recover. McIlroy shot an eight on that opening hole and the quadruple bogey helped him to a 79 before a 65 on the Friday failed to undo the damage to make the cut. ‌ 'I remember the ovation I got on the first tee on Thursday and not being prepared for it or not being ready for how I was going to feel or what I was going to feel. Then the golf on Thursday feels like a bit of a blur. I try to forget that part of it.' McIlroy admitted he got it wrong in 2019 as he tried to shy away from the adulation on home turf and keep himself to himself as much as possible. This time it will be different as the 2025 Masters champion looks to harness the love from the Irish fans to help him in pursuit of a second Claret Jug. 'I think in '19 I probably tried to isolate, and I think it's better for everyone if I embrace it,' he said. 'I think it's better for me because I can - it's nice to be able to accept adulation, even though I struggle with it at times. 'But it's also nice for the person that is seeing you for the first time in a few years. It just makes for a better interaction and not trying to hide away from it. It's more of an embrace everything that's going to come my way this week and not try to shy away from it or hide away from it, and I think that'll make for a better experience for everyone involved.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store