NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — Chris Gotterup had a aircraft ticket for California to play an opposite-field occasion in Lake Tahoe. The one change in itinerary could be to take down Rory McIlroy on the Scottish Open earlier than a sellout crowd anticipating the Masters champion to assert his thirtieth title on the PGA Tour.
Gotterup dealt with all of it with poise to go together with his nice power.
He delivered all the correct pictures — the brief birdie putt on the par-3 twelfth to construct a two-shot lead, the 10-foot birdie on the par-5 sixteenth to revive a two-shot lead — and closed with a 4-under 66 to carry off McIlroy and Marco Penge of England.
The victory sends Gotterup to Royal Portrush for his British Open debut, an prolonged journey to hyperlinks golf that’s beginning to swimsuit him.
Time to cancel that flight.
“I’d do it proper now in entrance of you,” Gotterup stated, the trophy at his aspect that additionally sends him to the Masters subsequent yr for the primary time.
He earned these perks. Gotterup, tied with McIlroy to begin the ultimate spherical, drove right into a bunker and needed to make a nervy 4-footer for bogey on the opening gap. That was a reminder that nothing was going to return simply.
“I undoubtedly was the villain on the market at present,” he stated. “I felt like I used to be prepared and ready mentally at present. And that is type of what I have been speaking about during the last couple of weeks, that I’ve type of gotten into the combination just a little bit and simply light away just a little bit. And at present, my purpose was to hold in there powerful and I felt like I did that actually nicely.”
He completed at 15-under 265 and strikes into the highest 50 on the planet for the primary time.
“Chris performed a terrific spherical of golf. He was so strong,” McIlroy stated. “Made the bogey on 15 however bounced again with a very nice birdie on 16. After he received a pair forward, I simply could not claw again.”
Gotterup was one shot forward of McIlroy when he hit his tee shot on the 196-yard twelfth gap to 2 toes for birdie — McIlroy missed from 4 toes — to take command.
The lead was down to 1 over McIlroy and Penge, however McIlroy missed a 12-foot birdie on the par-5 sixteenth and Gotterup hit a right-to-left putt from 10 toes within the coronary heart of the cup for a two-shot edge with two to play.
Gotterup was so emotional when it was over he might barely converse, rubbing his eyes earlier than saying, “Everybody at residence … that is superior. I am not going to have the ability to hold it collectively.”
Gotterup, constructed extra like fellow New Jersey athlete Mike Trout than a golfer, additionally gained the opposite-field Myrtle Seaside Basic final yr. The Genesis Scottish Open had one of many strongest fields of the yr, and the perks are far larger.
The primary cease is the British Open at Royal Portrush. Gotterup earned one of many three remaining spots by way of the Worldwide Qualifying Collection, joined by Nicolai Hojgaard and Matti Schmid.
Hojgaard closed with a 64 to maneuver up 11 spots right into a tie for fourth to affix his twin brother at Royal Portrush. Schmid shot 71 and tied for seventeenth, helped by Jake Knapp‘s late collapse.
Knapp was tied for the lead by way of 5 holes, however he took double bogey on the par-3 ninth and the remainder of the again 9 did not go a lot better. He closed with a 74, dropping an opportunity to win and to play subsequent week at Royal Portrush.
McIlroy, in the meantime, had stated he was taking part in his greatest golf since going into the Masters, which he gained in emotional trend to finish the profession Grand Slam. This was the primary time he had severely contended since that Masters victory, good timing with the Open in his native Northern Eire beginning Thursday.
However he could not sustain with Gotterup, who seemed shaky at the beginning when he drove right into a bunker and needed to make a 4-foot bogey putt. He was rock strong the remainder of the way in which.
“I am actually pleased with the place my sport is — the way in which I performed over the weekend, the pictures that I hit, how I managed my ball flight,” McIlroy stated. “It has been a terrific week. Lacking the trophy, that is about it.”
McIlroy battled to the top, particularly on No. 11 when he needed to pitch out left-handed and nonetheless managed to save lots of par. When it was over, he stated he was on his option to Royal Portrush, which McIlroy had not seen because the Friday of the 2019 British Open, when he missed the reduce.
Former U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick had a 67 and tied for fourth with Hojgaard, choosing up precious FedEx Cup factors in what has been a down yr.
Scottie Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 participant coming off a two-week break, had a 67 and tied for eighth. It was his tenth consecutive match ending eighth or higher, a streak that started on the Houston Open.
The Related Press contributed was the story.