NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – Rutgers golf coach Robert Shutte thought Chris Gotterup might cost him his job.

The program wasn’t fully funded when Shutte pushed hard to get Gotterup, then an up-and-coming New Jersey kid, to commit to the team. But Shutte used a significant amount of his resources to keep him in state. So when Gotterup shot 100 (not an exaggeration, “ask any alums,” Shutte said) during one of his first training sessions of his freshman year at the Slammer and Squire course in Northeast Florida, Shutte was worried his days were numbered.

“This kid's gonna take me down. I'm gonna get fired because of him,” Shutte said. “If he didn’t work out, I was gone.”

Eight years later, Shutte, donning his Rutgers scarlet, watched from the steps of The Renaissance Club’s clubhouse as Gotterup, unproven and unheralded, outdueled Rory McIlroy to win the Genesis Scottish Open, his second PGA TOUR title.

“He's gonna win majors,” Shutte said moments after Gotterup’s win. “He keeps breaking through new ceilings.”

Gotterup emerged from a crowded pack of decorated contenders, unfazed in the final pairing alongside major winners McIlroy and Wyndham Clark. As McIlroy stalled out with 10 straight pars to finish his round, Gotterup grabbed two birdies early on the back nine and bounced back from his lone bogey of the inward nine on 15 with a birdie on 16 that widened his lead for good. He shot 4-under 66 to finish 15-under, two better than McIlroy and Marco Penge.

In his limited opportunities to close, Gotterup has shown himself more than capable. He has co-led/led twice after 54 holes in his TOUR career and won both events. He won the 2024 ONEFlight Myrtle Beach Classic by six shots. Gotterup is now 39th in the FedExCup.

“I feel like a lot of people say that the second one is harder just because you have expectations and whatnot,” Gotterup said. “It's definitely more a validation this week. Myrtle Beach was amazing, but this one, I feel like I've been talking to my team about I want to take the next step, and I feel like this is part of that.”

It’s been a difficult run for Gotterup since that win last spring. What Gotterup assumed to be a breakthrough victory became a lone highlight in an otherwise underwhelming season. A fluke, to the cynics. He failed to register another top 20 the rest of the year and spent three months sidelined with a hand injury. He struggled to marry up those heightened expectations with his play, believing he was good enough to contend but unable to show it for more than a round or two at a time.

The struggles carried into this season, when he missed the cut in eight of his first 11 events with a cut. His fortunes finally began to turn when he switched caddies, picking up former pro Brady Stockton midway through the year. Gotterup has finished inside the top 30 in eight of his last nine starts, including four straight top 20s and a career-best T23 major finish at the U.S. Open.

“Everything I've seen, I don't know why he wasn't playing better, honestly, because he drives it well. He has a great temperament,” Stockton said. “I don't think I've done anything special. I think he just finally is getting comfortable out here, and it’s just his time.”

Gotterup’s game comes and goes with his driver, which has been better than ever in the second half of this season. He ranks inside the top 10 in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, with easy power that can hang with anyone – McIlroy included.

“He's got insane power,” said Jacob Bridgeman, one of Gotterup’s closest friends on TOUR. The two frequently stay together on the road. They played North Berwick together on Tuesday. Bridgeman hung around the 18th hole to watch Gotterup win. “Even in weather where it's like 65 degrees, he can get close to 190 ball speed and hit it forever.”

Gotterup was third in driving distance and fourth in off-the-tee performance. But it was his irons and hot touch that clinched his victory in Scotland.

Tied with McIlroy to begin the back nine, Gotterup was forced to lay up after a wayward drive on the par-5 10th. With 111 yards left to the green, Gotterup carried a large ridge in front of the pin, stopped the ball within 5 feet and made the putt. He hit it to 3 feet on the 197-yard, par-3 12th for another easy birdie, then made a crucial up-and-down on 13 to maintain his lead. His lone blip came at the 15th, a bogey after he was put on the clock for slow play.

“That got my blood going a little bit more than it was already going trying to win a golf tournament,” Gotterup said.

He bounced back with two more clutch up-and-downs on 16 (for birdie) and 17 (for par), utilizing the rolling linksland to get close to the hole.

“He can flight it really well, and he likes to play it on the ground and he likes to move it up and down, and he doesn't only hit one shot,” Stockton said. “So I think links golf suits him really well. He's just a creative player.”

The win is the crowning moment of Gotterup’s fledgling career. At 25, he will make his debut in The Open Championship next week, getting in as the highest finisher in the Genesis Scottish Open field among those not exempt.

Gotterup was a late bloomer. He improved from a 74.03 scoring average in his freshman year to the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year in 2020. He didn’t even truly break out until his super senior year, granted a fifth year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Considered up to then as a good, but not great player, Gotterup transferred to Oklahoma and took off. He won the 2022 Fred Haskins and Jack Nicklaus Awards, and was a consensus All-America First Team selection. He finished runner-up to Ludvig Åberg at the 2022 Big 12 Conference Championship, where he helped the Sooners win the conference title.

Still, he was only seventh in PGA TOUR University, behind others like Bridgeman, the Coody twins and Oklahoma teammate Logan McCalister. With this win, Gotterup has as many TOUR wins than anyone in his class.

Gotterup won’t be among the favorites at Royal Portrush, but he’s fine with that. He’s just happy to extend his trip across the pond for another week.