Chris Gotterup will head to Augusta National to play The Masters for the first time in his career this year.
Gotterup‘s meteoric rise in the professional game over the past seven months has been truly astounding to witness.
In April 2025 while The Masters was being played, the 26-year-old from New Jersey was competing in the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Give us one reason why Chris Gotterup could be the man to challenge Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy
Gotterup began his 2026 in fine style with a win at the Sony Open…
At the time, he was ranked outside the world’s top 200 and competing in The Masters at Augusta National would have been nothing more than a pipe dream.
What a difference seven months makes, though!
Gotterup’s win at the WM Phoenix Open last week was his second of the 2026 PGA Tour season and his third over the past seven months.
The 26-year-old from Little Silver, New Jersey, is now ranked as the world’s fifth best golfer – a quite extraordinary turnaround from last year.
Gotterup decided to move to Florida from Oklahoma in the winter, so that he would be able to play and practice throughout the cold months.
And that decision has seriously paid off for the American. Now he is set to receive all the riches and rewards as a result of his fine form and extremely hard work.
Chris Gotterup ends self-imposed Augusta ban after Masters invite
Gotterup will not just be heading to Augusta to make up the numbers this year – he will be playing to win the tournament.
And the thing is, nobody would be surprised if he ends up slipping on the green jacket come 7pm on April 12th.
Gotterup was asked whether he has any plans to play Augusta before the week of The Masters in April.
“It’s in the works at the moment,“ Gotterup admitted.
“I’m going to try and go get a practice round in during Cognizant or Valspar, one of those weeks where I’m not going to play.
“I haven’t been yet. I’ve done a couple like sponsor things during the tournament, but they would always ask if I wanted to go over and I would say no because I didn’t want to go on property until I played for real. This time I’ll happily go over.“
He was then asked to elaborate on why he chose not to play Augusta National before he had qualified for the tournament.
Gotterup said: “Well, I haven’t been invited to play in general, but I would go down — one of my sponsors would do a dinner down there every Wednesday before and they would ask if I wanted to go over on Thursday and watch.
Do you think you could win The Masters if you started every hole on the green?
If not, how many shots would you also need?
“I don’t know, I feel like it would ruin my — like one, I don’t really like watching other people play unless I’m not playing that week. It’s just my, I don’t know, I’m kind of weird in that sense. Like I wanted it to be, like it’s the most hyped up tournament in the sport and I don’t want to go over there and be a spectator, I want to play.
“I had faith in myself that I was going to be able to do it as a player. Now that I’m going to be able to, it will be much more rewarding stepping on the first tee there rather than being a fan.“
Chris Gotterup’s Augusta National decision was forged by his New Jersey roots
Gotterup has never been handed anything for nothing.
He has had to work incredibly hard to get where he is today and back in June ahead of the US Open at Oakmont, the 26-year-old explained why he and his fellow New Jersey native, Ryan McCormick, deserved their chance at the US Open more than anyone.
“I know he takes great pride in that, and I take great pride in it,” Gotterup said.
“There are good players who grow up in Jersey and go away to college. We’re two of the only guys who have toughed it out and climbed through the ranks in a place where you wouldn’t think you could do it.”
“I like to describe myself as someone who is gritty, and I know Ryan would say the same thing,” Gotterup said.
“That’s just part of our New Jersey roots.
“There were so many stepping stones for me that, even if I was good enough at Rutgers to turn pro, I would not be in the same position I am now.
“I needed those years of getting the crap beat out of me and coach yelling at me and teachers telling me, that I wasn’t trying hard enough in school. There are all these pieces that built up to get my feet underneath me to the point where I can finally kick some (butt).”
Gotterup clearly hasn’t forgotten where he came from.
The fact that he’s so grounded and had to work to get where he is today will make all of his success taste even sweeter.
Chris Gotterup playing in The Masters this year is the ultimate reward for putting in the hard yards and keeping the faith through the tough times, when it seemed like he would never make it at the very highest level of the game.
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