With apologies to the 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic, there are many golf fans for whom the name “Chris Gotterup” began to ring out last year at the Scottish Open, when he stormed to a two-shot victory over Rory McIlroy and Marco Penge at the Renaissance Club, then followed that with a solo third place at the British Open. With his prodigious length off the tee, his name began to ring out as a possible U.S. Ryder Cup candidate, and though he didn’t make that team, he has made the best of the aftermath, with an astounding three victories so far in 2026, first at the Sony Open, next in Phoenix, and finally in Silvis, Ill., at the John Deere Classic. And all before he steps foot on British soil.
It was a special day for Gotterup, the 26-year-old New Jersey native, and an unexpected one, as he began five strokes behind leaders Lucas Glover and Lee Hodges, and with a hefty chasing pack between him and the prize (a group that ran the gamut from Zach Johnson, 50, to Preston Stout, the reigning NCAA champion). He teed off an hour ahead of Hodges and Glover, but by the time he finished, he had blitzed the course to the tune of a nine-birdie, zero-bogey 62, finishing the tournament at 20 under. When he finished, the old leaders couldn’t fail to see his name atop the leaderboard, and for an hour he waited to see if any of them could catch him, spending most of his time on the range with his brother Patrick, who caddied for him this week while his regular caddie was on paternity leave.
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In the end, the best chance belonged to Ben Kohles, who came into 18 needing par for a playoff or birdie for a win. There was some ominous precedence there for the relatively unknown Kohles, whose last great chance to win a tour event came at the 2024 Byron Nelson, when he made bogey on 18 to miss a playoff with Taylor Pendrith by a shot. Here, he seemed to shake those demons with a solid 308-yard drive to the left side of the fairway, leaving himself 175 to the flag, but disaster struck when he pulled his approach left and into the water. After the penalty, he had one last desperate look at par from 45 feet but could only muster a chip inside three feet … which he then proceeded to miss, taking a double bogey and dropping to a tie for third. (In the end, Kohles’ error cost him dearly; while he walked away with $466,000, a win would have been worth $1.584 million, and the short miss that cost him a tie for second erased more than $300,000 from his check.)
“I was kind of a little in between,” Kohles said of his approach shot. “I hit an 8-iron and thought 9 was going to be too short and thought if I hit, you know, a full 8, it could have a chance of going over. So I was just trying to hit kind of a three-quarter punch shot … just tugged it a little.”
For Gotterup, it was an incredibly emotional victory. He received a sponsor exemption at the John Deere in 2022, finished fourth, and has considered this tournament—his words—his “fifth major” since. It would have been very easy for him to skip, considering the fact that he has to travel overseas and defend his Scottish Open title, but he stayed loyal, and benefited massively.
“It really kick-started my whole career, honestly,” he said of his finish that year. “At that time I had no status anywhere. To get a fourth here was the biggest tournament of my life at that point … obviously we’re biased towards places that we play well at and that we like, and this is one of those for me. To be able to come back and win makes it even more special.”
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Chris Gotterup and his caddie/brother Patrick pose with the winner’s trophy after winning the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run.
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Tyler Clouse
When Kohles’ par attempt missed, Gotterup embraced his brother on the range, and broke down several times in his interview with CBS. He spoke of the hard work he’s put into his game, and the dividends are obvious: he was 158th in the world ranking coming into this tournament last year, and now he’s comfortably inside the top 10 with four wins in that 12-month period.
Fifty-four-hole co-leaders Glover and Hodges each shot 69 to finish in a tie for third with Kohles, and it was Max Homa who surged ahead of all three with a 64 that saw him finish at 19 under, just a shot behind Gotterup. It’s Homa’s best finish since his 2023 victory at the Farmers Insurance Open.
In his post-round remarks, Homa called Gotterup “the nicest dude,” and the nicest dude has a little bit of a different take on himself, but no less positive.
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“We’re all crazy, golfers,” he said. The bads feel really bad even though they’re not that bad, and the goods feel like you’re unbeatable. Today I obviously had a really good day. This whole year has been really good, if you look at it in a big picture … hopefully this kick-starts some other great stuff. I’d be lying if I said this year wasn’t a massive success.”
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