Chris Gotterup left the John Deere Classic earlier this month 88th in the FedEx Cup standings on the PGA Tour and seemingly with little chance of making the playoffs.
It had been a mixed year for Chris Gotterup. He had missed nine cuts on the PGA Tour. However, there were signs that he was trending in the right direction, with just one of those missed cuts coming in his last 11 starts.
Nevertheless, few would have imagined that his trip across the pond would prove to be so fruitful for the 26-year-old.
Gotterup won the Genesis Scottish Open ahead of Rory McIlroy. And he backed that up by finishing third at The Open Championship this past week. Unsurprisingly, it was, by some distance, his best result in a major.
Harris English issues his verdict on Chris Gotterup after the final round of The Open Championship
Gotterup was paired with Harris English for the final round at Royal Portrush. The pair appeared to be good for each other, with English going on to register yet another runner-up finish at the majors this year.
And following Sunday’s round, English – who also finished second to Scottie Scheffler at the PGA Championship – explained what he made of his countryman’s game.
“Yeah, he was awesome. Obviously what he did last week was awesome to see, going toe-to-toe with Rory at the Scottish Open, and I think this is his first time playing links golf. It’s his first Open Championship,” he said.
“Obviously his ball flight suits this place. He can flight it, he can smash it. So it’s awesome. I’ve played in, I don’t know, nine or ten of these and finished 14th, and for him to first one finish third is pretty incredible. Got a heck of a game, and I know the best is in front of him. I don’t know why it took him so long to play well out here.”
Harris English has all but secured his ticket to the Ryder Cup with another superb major performance
It has been an amazing year for English, who won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines all the way back in January.
He had never previously registered a top 10 in a major other than at the US Open before 2025. But he has now finished on the podium at both the PGA Championship and The Open Championship.
And he spoke about how determined he was to finish well despite knowing that he was almost certainly not going to get his hands on the Claret Jug.
“Yeah, you semi-just learn how to block it out as much as you can and focus on seeing your shot and hitting your shot, and I feel like I did a really good job of locking in and zoning in,” he said.
“Even though winning today was probably not attainable unless I shot nine under, I felt like I needed a really good round and wanted to play well in the Open Championship and give myself a run.
“I think my best finish was 14th in this tournament coming into this year, so I knew I could play better than that and wanted to play better than that. It was awesome to finish like that.”
It is impossible to see how English does not make his return to the Ryder Cup team later this year. He is sixth in the FedEx Cup standings and has played well throughout the season.
And the 35-year-old suggested that he was delighted to move a step closer to being involved at Bethpage.
“Yeah, losing to Scottie twice in two majors, the only guy to beat me at the PGA and this week, I’m playing some good golf. Just need to clean it up a little bit,” he added.
“But my two goals this year were to make it to the Tour Championship and make that Ryder Cup team, and hopefully I’ve moved myself a little bit closer to that, and hopefully I can get in that top six to lock up a spot.”
Few would have been happier to see four Americans at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday at Royal Portrush than Keegan Bradley. And you would think now that English had all but joined Scheffler in booking his ticket to Bethpage.
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