Chris Gotterup Rallies to Win 2026 WM Phoenix Open in Playoff
In the 2026 WM Phoenix Open, which took place on Sunday, February 8 at TPC Scottsdale, Chris Gotterup, an American who was 26 years old and already had a victory on the PGA Tour to begin the year 2026, fought back from being four strokes behind the lead to force a playoff against Hideki Matsuyama of Japan. He ultimately prevailed and won the tournament.
After Gotterup’s tee shot landed on the edge of the fairway and Matsuyama’s ball rebounded into the water hazard, all that was required of him was to play a hole that was free of any obstructions during the playoffs. He went above and beyond that, making a putt from 27 feet away, which resulted in a birdie and won him the championship.
Gotterup, a 24-year-old golfer from Maryland who attended Rutgers University during his collegiate career, had a difficult time on February 6 as he attempted to meet the requirements to compete on Saturday and Sunday. At the WM Phoenix Open in 2025 and 2024, he did not make the cut for the tournament.
“Once I got over the hump on Friday, I felt, at this point, it didn’t matter what I did in the past,” he explained to reporters. “I feel like I’m a different player than I was a couple years ago. Yeah, I was just trying to keep myself in the mix, and obviously didn’t do a great job of that on Friday and Saturday, but today I felt like I did a great job of that, and just tried to lurk and ended up sneaking in a playoff, and to end up on top is awesome.”
Matsuyama had played his tee shot for the playoff hole into the water, and the stroke penalty that came along with it had left him at three strokes already. Gotterup then made a three-stroke putt, bringing his score to three strokes.
After a period of three weeks, Gotterup achieved his second victory, propelling him to the top of the FedEx Cup rankings. During the WM Open, he finished in a three-way tie for third place, which allowed him to go ahead of the world’s number one player, Scottie Scheffler.
Although Matsuyama had a five on the last hole, he may have been relatively satisfied with the fact that a playoff was going to take place in Scottsdale. Two of his previous victories at the WM Open, in 2016 and 2017, were achieved through the use of a playoff.
On the other hand, Matsuyama appeared uncertain. In the moments that followed the moment he lined up his putt at 18, he examined his swing on his playoff tee shot before withdrawing from the competition. After the swing, Matusyama was aware of the fact that his shot off the tee on the playoff hole went wide left, and he dropped his head in disgust once he reached the realization.
A playoff was held for the 22nd time since 1932, and it was the seventh time in the last 11 Opens that it had occurred.
At the beginning of the day, Matsuyama was in a position to win the tournament, despite the fact that he was just one shot ahead of Gotterup and had a four-shot advantage over him. However, a collapse at the final hole and Gotterup’s acceleration up the leaderboard resulted in the need for a playoff.
As a result of an off-target approach following an errant tee shot, Matsuyama was forced to make a lengthy putt, which he ultimately failed to make, resulting in a bogey.
“Was grinding all weekend,” Matsuyama said through a translator. “He was working hard.” “Didn’t have my best stuff, but hung in there. I wanted to avoid the playoff as much as I could, but I just hit a bad tee shot there in regulation at 18, and Chris made a good putt there in the playoff. So hats off to him.”
In the meantime, Gotterup managed to creep onto the field with each passing hole in the back nine of the course. After making a bogey on the ninth hole, he went on to birdie five of the next six holes in regulation.
“Certainly at that point I wasn’t like, I lost the tournament,” he stated in response. To begin with, I was under the impression that I would not be able to compete in the competition.
“Just wanted to bounce back on 13 and then hit some high-quality shots coming in.”
Gotterup has now won four times on the PGA Tour in his career, including the Sony Hawaii Open, which took place a month ago.
“I’m just really enjoying being out here right now, and I’m having fun,” he explained to reporters. “I feel confident in what I’m doing and feel like I have played well enough to feel confident, to be able to be in those positions.”
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