Everything about Sunday in Scotland pointed to a Rory McIlroy win, with the five-time major winner expected to reclaim his form just in time for a trip back home to Northern Ireland next week for the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. It was all too perfect.
But there was a stocky 25-year-old golfer from New Jersey who has never even played in an Open hoping to punch his own ticket.
So Chris Gotterup went into the final round group and held off McIlroy to win the Scottish Open and earn his way into next week’s major championship. The duo was tied entering Renaissance Club’s back nine, but McIlroy failed to convert a single birdie putt — including two par 5s — as Gotterup finished with three birdies and a bogey on the back for a two-shot win. It’s his second PGA Tour win.
Gotterup, in his second year on tour, was a college standout who transferred from Rutgers to Oklahoma and won both the Hawkins Award and Jack Nicklaus Award as top college golfer in the country. It then took him just one year on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn his card, and he won the alternate-field event at the Myrtle Beach Classic in 2024 as a rookie for his first career win.
Gotterup leaped into contention on Friday with a second-round 61 that tied the Renaissance course record. He was able to maintain a share of the lead with a Saturday 70, but McIlroy caught up to him with a 66 to create a Sunday matchup.
Gotterup opened the day with a bogey to give McIlroy a temporary solo lead, but Gotterup was able to then go 5-under par on the next 11 holes to retake control. Meanwhile, McIlroy consistently put himself in good positions but failed to sink his 50-50 putts to keep pace.
Still, this was a massive week for McIlroy. Since winning the Masters in April — as many expected a suddenly freed-up McIlroy to go on a tear — he’s struggled, while admitting there was an emotional comedown from the epic victory. He finished T47 at the PGA Championship, missed the cut at the Canadian Open and was caught smashing tee boxes and sparring with the press early at Oakmont before ending well and finishing T19.
Suddenly, McIlroy’s game is back in a good place at the perfect time. A T6 at the Travelers and this T2 in Scotland indicate McIlroy is getting closer to the golfer playing at career-best levels the first four months of the season. And he’s doing it before a pressure-filled, emotional tournament next week in Northern Ireland.
“I think I’m pretty close to being back to the level I was at going into the Masters,” McIlroy said after the third round. “I think I’ve had a little bit of a lull, which I feel is understandable. So I’m just getting back to the level that I know that I can play at.”
(Photo: Warren Little / Getty Images)