Gotterup 'hung in like champ' to deny McIlroy at Scottish Open

Chris Gotterup finished two shots clear at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick

Scottish Open final leaderboard

-15 C Gotterup (US); -13 R McIlroy (NI), M Penge (Eng); -12 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), N Hojgaard (Den); -11 J Rose (Eng); -10 S Straka (Aut); -9 S Scheffler (US), X Schauffele (US), L Aberg (Swe)

Selected others: -8 V Hovland (Nor); -6 A Scott (Aus), -5 J Thomas (US); -4 T Fleetwood (Eng); +2 R MacIntyre (Sco)

Leaderboard

American Chris Gotterup impressively "hung in there like a champ" to hold off Rory McIlroy and the chasing pack for the biggest win of his career with a remarkable Scottish Open success.

The world number 158, who began the final round tied for the lead with McIlroy, displayed admirable nerve to register a closing 66 and triumph by two shots on 15 under at the Renaissance Club.

McIlroy's challenge faltered on the back nine and he shared second place with England's Marco Penge.

As well as winning £1.2m and his second PGA Tour title, 25-year-old Gotterup secured a debut appearance in The Open at Royal Portrush next week.

Gotterup fought back tears as he said: "I just hung in there tight and tried to keep it together.

"It's amazing. It's all hitting me. It's just so cool. I played really well this week and I knew today was going to be tough.

"It was a pleasure to be out there with Rory and obviously all the support he gets is amazing, but it was nice to kind of ruin that a little bit."

Matt Fitzpatrick finished three shots off the top alongside Nicolai Hojgaard, while Justin Rose was one further back after posting the lowest round of the day with a bogey-free 63.

Xander Schauffele, who begins his Claret Jug defence on Thursday, ended on nine under alongside world number one Scottie Scheffler and Ludvig Aberg.

Dane Hojgaard and Germany's Matti Schmid earned the other two Open places that were available for those not already exempt.

'Solid' Gotterup outshines McIlroy

Crowd favourite McIlroy was the star attraction in the leading group but Gotterup - in just his second competitive outing on a links course - upstaged the world number two and several other star names.

Having started shakily with a bogey, the American recovered strongly to pick up birdies on three, seven and eight.

Fitzpatrick and Penge briefly were briefly among the leaders but Gotterup and McIlroy reached the turn locked together on 13 under.

That parity did not last long as Gotterup birdied two of the ensuing three holes to seize a two-shot advantage.

His lead was halved when he overshot the 15th green and made bogey, but he immediately fought back with a 10-foot birdie on the par-five 16th where McIlroy could only post par.

The Northern Irishman failed to find a single birdie in his final 10 holes, but remained upbeat despite missing out on a second Scottish Open title in three years.

With The Open in his homeland up next, McIlroy said: "It was pretty windy and hard to get the ball super close. I gave myself plenty of chances coming down the stretch. Chris played a great round of golf. He was so solid.

"It's been a great week. I'm really happy with where my game is. No frustration, really."

Who is surprise champion Gotterup?

Gotterup was an unknown to many golf fans on this side of the Atlantic before this week. They know all about him now.

A second-round 61 – equalling the course record – served notice of his talent and gave him the halfway lead. Plenty expected him to fade away, but he proved to be obdurately unyielding.

So who is the surprise champion? The 25-year-old, born in Maryland but raised in New Jersey, won the Jack Nicklaus Award as the top college golfer in the US in 2022.

He turned pro that year, initially plying his trade on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour, then making the step up to the PGA Tour in 2024, marking his debut season with victory at the Myrtle Beach Classic.

This year has been more of a struggle though – Gotterup missed the cut in eight of his his opening 12 events. He had no top-10 finishes until this weekend and came into the tournament 88th in the FedEx Cup standings.

He is now a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, with the magnitude of this success dwarfing his debut win.

Oh, and Gotterup isn't just handy with a golf club. He was big into lacrosse as a kid, playing for more than 12 years, and credits that sport for helping to develop the speed of his mighty golf swing.