Golf Is Starving For A Young Star. Chris Gotterup Might Be The Guy.

Since the start of 2025, only Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have more PGA Tour wins than Chris Gotterup. 

With his incredible final-round 62 to win the John Deere Classic on Sunday, the 26-year-old Gotterup captured his fifth professional win and third in 2026. It was a great finish, and it was also great to see Gotterup’s emotion after the victory. He looks like he could hit a baseball 400 feet or line up at linebacker, but Gotterup struggled to hold back tears throughout his interview after winning with his brother on the bag at TPC Deere Run.

It’s always great to see how much it means to some players, even when it’s a player that has already won the Phoenix Open and Sony Open this year alone, adding it to an impressive victory at the Scottish Open last year, where he’ll defend this week. 

Speaking of defending, Gotterup surprised many by even being in the field at the John Deere. He was ranked No. 14 in the world going into the event and is easily in any tournament he wants to play. With two big tournaments in the UK coming up, nearly every top player skips Deere Run and heads overseas to prepare for a fortnight in Britain. 

But Gotterup has a special place in his heart for the John Deere. When he turned pro in 2022, he wrote a letter to the tournament requesting a sponsor’s invite and said he would make them proud if accepted. He finished T4 at that week’s tournament, one of his first as a professional.

Four years later, he lifted the trophy and definitely fulfilled his promise. 

Gotterup could move the needle

For whatever reason, it doesn’t feel like Gotterup has gotten the media recognition he deserves for his play over the last year, especially since it feels like he checks all of the boxes.

He’s a young, very likable American with a unique swing who looks like he could excel in just about any sport. He also shows some emotion out there, something sorely lacking from many young players who have come up in recent years. 

An interesting upbringing doesn’t hurt either. With junior golf mostly dominated from country clubs in the South or California for decades now, Gotterup grew up on the Jersey shore. His main sport was lacrosse, which he credits for developing his interesting swing. He didn’t get into the game seriously until his teens. He stayed true to Jersey, attending Rutgers, a school not at all known for its golf program. 

But he broke records as a Scarlet Knight and then won the Haskins Award and Jack Nicklaus Award after transferring to Oklahoma. After a slow start to his professional career, Gotterup had to go back down to the Korn Ferry Tour and work his way to the top. Many had forgotten about him after his promising start. Then came a win at the Myrtle Beach Classic, an alternate event, to secure some status. A year later, he had a magical two weeks in the UK to ascend toward the top of the game. 

With so many people complaining about the lack of excitement from today’s stars, it feels like an oversight by golf media and fans alike not to push Gotterup more. He rarely seems included in coverage even when in contention. He was the top-ranked player in the field at the John Deere, but it felt like we only heard about Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler or Zach Johnson early in the week.

It didn’t help that he was skipped over for the Ryder Cup team last year, which proved to be a poor choice considering the Americans again seemed to lack some of the youthful energy needed to get past the Europeans. 

Next up for Gotterup will be major championship success

Perhaps all that is needed for Gotterup to move up that ladder and start getting the recognition as golf’s next star is more time in the spotlight at major championships, which is a fair need. Even more so since the Tour-LIV split, major championships are where the game’s stars are decided. 

And Gotterup is on the right path there. He’s played in only seven of them so far, with one coming back in 2022. In his five consecutive starts in majors, Gotterup has logged a pair of top 10s and four top 25s. His T3 finish at The Open Championship last year was impressive, but he was never really in the mix as Scottie Scheffler ran away with it.  

The game is there. Gotterup has become an elite iron player of late, which was not a strength early in his career. He can play any type of shot, with his most impressive being a stinger off the tee. Gotterup is one of the longest players on Tour, and he’s also become an incredibly consistent putter. The only thing missing is a better short game, but even that is around Tour average now and has significantly improved. 

This is the makeup of someone truly ready to break out as a star, and his game is built for majors. I’m excited that it’s someone who seems to be a great guy on and off the course—and someone who isn’t afraid to show a little emotion on the course. 

Top Photo Caption: Chris Gotterup just won the John Deere Classic for his fifth Tour title. (GETTY IMAGES/Keith Gillett)