Chris Gotterup has expressed his excitement about being drawn alongside Rory McIlroy for the opening two rounds of the Scottish Open, with Robert MacIntyre completing the group.
Gotterup is gearing up for the return to the venue which helped establish him as a household name on the PGA Tour, with the 26-year-old winning at The Renaissance Club 12 months ago.
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Of course, what made Gotterup’s victory all the more special was the fact that he was forced to face a duel with McIlroy during the final round in North Berwick.
Chris Gotterup reacts to being drawn with Rory McIlroy and Robert MacIntyre at the Scottish Open
Many would have expected the Northern Irishman to emerge victorious. One of the most iconic shots over the last decade of his career helped set up his win at the Scottish Open back in 2023.
But Gotterup was unfazed by the challenge and proved that he has the potential to win one of the game’s biggest prizes.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the organisers have put Gotterup and McIlroy together again for the first two rounds of this week. And to make things even more interesting, home favourite MacIntyre will join them.
And Gotterup suggested that he is delighted with his group as he prepares to defend his title.
“Yeah, a lot, it will be fun. There will be a bunch of people out there I would assume. Hopefully I feel a few more fans rooting for me than against me than last time. It will be fun,” he said.
“Obviously those two are beloved here, and I’m excited for the opportunity. It’s been nice to kind of get in the mix a little bit with these big groups and just get more comfortable in that scenario. Yeah, I think that’s kind of what you want when you are playing out here. You want to be in the big groups, and yeah, I’ll be looking forward to that on Thursday.
He went on to add: “Yeah, the fun part about playing well is you get the bigger and better groups, and any time you get people out here to come watch you play is fun. It makes you want to perform better. I feel like it makes me focus maybe a little bit more than when no one is out there watching me. So yeah, it’s fun. It’s exciting. Yeah, I’m excited.”
Chris Gotterup reflects on the rise he has enjoyed since his victory in Scotland last year
It has been a rapid rise for Gotterup. More casual golf fans would not have known an awful lot about him when he turned up in Scotland.
Since that win, he finished in the top three at The Open Championship and has won three times on the PGA Tour, including last week at the John Deere Classic.
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It seems inevitable that he will make his Presidents Cup debut later this year, while a Ryder Cup bow at Adare Manor is also on the cards on his current trajectory.
And he has now been asked about how much his life has changed since that victory at the Scottish Open.
“My personal life has not changed a whole lot. Everything’s kind of, you know, still the same. I do the same stuff that I did before and I don’t change that much, hopefully,” he said.
“But golf-wise, it’s changed a lot. Having four wins since then is crazy and it’s been a lot of FedExCup, and I feel like everyone’s asked, what have I done differently and I don’t think I’ve done much differently.
“If I knew, I would have done it a lot longer ago. I felt like I kept my head down and kept working hard on things that I knew right with the help of my coaches and family and girlfriend, we try to keep things simple and it’s worked out. Yeah, hopefully keep improving, too.”
It is hard to imagine that Gotterup could continue to rise at his current rate over the next year. However, it certainly seems to be a matter of time before he wins one of the game’s four majors.
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