Heading into the 2026 John Deere Classic, Chris Gotterup had four PGA Tour wins under his belt. And by the time he finished the final round at TPC Deere Run, the 26-year-old added a fifth. He pieced together rounds of 66, 68, 68, and a blistering final-round 62 to collect the winner’s share of the $8.8 million purse. And when the victory was finally sealed, his emotions caught up with him.
“LOOK AT WHAT IT MEANS,” Golf Channel posted on X. “Chris Gotterup has tears in his eyes after winning the John Deere Classic with his brother on the bag.”
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Gotterup often gets emotional after big wins, but this one hit different for the 26-year-old because his brother Patrick was on the bag. His regular caddie, Brady Stockton, is on paternity leave, so Patrick filled in. Patrick works in sports marketing and actually caddied for Chris on the Korn Ferry Tour back in 2023, the year Gotterup earned his PGA Tour card for 2024.
There was another layer to it, too. Back in May 2022, Gotterup went to the John Deere Classic tournament director and asked for a sponsor exemption, telling him he wouldn’t regret it. He backed that up with a T4 finish that week, a result that helped kickstart his pro career. Sunday took that promise somewhere else entirely. When someone brought it up in his post-round interview, tears welled up in his eyes again.
“God, I don’t even know. I mean, I really like this tournament. They’ve been super nice to me, and to come out here and to have Patrick out here with me,” Gotterup told CBS Sports. “I mean, for [Patrick] to take time out this week and some [Paid Time Off]. And hopefully, he gets one more day of PTO tomorrow from work.
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“But yeah, just so awesome. This tournament’s been so awesome to me, and it’s just a great week.”
Gotterup was coming off T10, T27, T43 and T30 finishes, which include the PGA Championship, the Memorial Tournament, the U.S. Open, and the Travelers Championship. Naturally, a commanding first-place finish after winning twice early in the season in January and February at the Sony Open in Hawaii and WM Phoenix Open meant a great deal to him.
Now, the 26-year-old will head to Scotland to defend his Genesis Scottish Open title. The $9,000,000-purse tournament, which is co-sanctioned by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, starts on Thursday, July 9 at the Renaissance Club. If he can replicate his performance from the John Deere Classic, perhaps another victory is ahead of him.
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