Chris Gotterup changed residences during his abbreviated offseason, moving from Oklahoma to Florida to facilitate a more productive start to his season. That decision and appearances in a few unofficial events late last year and TGL matches the past few weeks—where he was “feeling some juice”—all contributed to the very payoff he was seeking.
“I feel like my game is in better shape just because I’ve been putting in more work at home,” the stocky Maryland native said after he opened the Sony Open in Hawaii on Thursday with a seven-under 63, the juice flowing from the get-go.
On Sunday, Gotterup beat Waialae Country Club to a pulp with his stellar power game and found the range with his putter on the back nine to secure a two-stroke victory in the season-opening event on the PGA Tour. Gotterup fired a six-under 64 to finish with a 16-under 264 total to win his third career title in 69 starts.
“I felt like this week I was in a good frame of mind and really was just happy to be here,” said Gotterup, 26, who didn’t miss a fairway in the final round. “I felt like I was just in control of my brain, which is the most important thing, and then obviously I played well. I felt like I drove it great and made some putts when it mattered.”
Good summation. Gotterup led the field in strokes gained/off-the-tee at plus-4.357 and was second for the week in putts per green in regulation.
The victory was worth $1.638 million and will vault him into the top 20 in the world rankings.
Gotterup, who began the final round two strokes behind Davis Riley in a three-way tie for second, broke out of a three-way tie with Riley and Patrick Rodgers by getting up and down for birdie at the par-5 ninth to reach 13 under. Riley, meanwhile, who led by as many as three shots early on, stumbled with a pair of three-putt bogeys at the sixth and seventh holes and a double bogey at No. 8 after a wayward drive into a hazard.
Starting to find the distance with the putter, Gotterup glided in a downhill 21-footer at the 12th to extend his lead to two shots and then moved three ahead when his 26-foot birdie caught the right edge at 13. He added one more birdie from 15 feet at the 17th to hold off Ryan Gerard, who closed with a 65 and 266 total.
Riley ended up well back in a tie for sixth after 71 (269).
Gotterup has won a tour event each of the last three years, one of only six players to have three-plus wins since the start of 2024. He is now exempt on tour through 2028.
Last year he missed the cut here and was outside the top 200 in the world. Clearly, he is on the rise. Or, perhaps, enjoying the juice.
“I feel like, when I’ve been in control of my game, when I’ve had a chance to win, I’ve done it, and this is another example,” said Gotterup, who popped up on the radar when he beat Rory McIlroy at the Scottish Open last summer then finished third in the Open Championship. “Yeah, when you get in contention and you’re able to hit shots under the gun, you know, you just believe in yourself that you can do it again. Sometimes there’s blind luck involved, and I’ll take as much as I can get, but I played pretty good this week.
“You couldn’t dream up a better start to the year.”
