Chris Gotterup is now ranked as the fifth best golfer in the world after his red-hot start to the 2026 PGA Tour season.
Gotterup has won twice in his first three starts on the PGA Tour this year and it’s clear to see that he’s very comfortable when in contention.
It’s incredible to think that he was ranked outside the top-200 in the world just one year ago.
Now Gotterup is being touted as the PGA Tour player best placed to challenge Scottie Scheffler this season.
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Gotterup began his 2026 in fine style with a win at the Sony Open…
Gotterup was incredibly unlucky to miss out on the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in September.
Keegan Bradley must be wishing he had picked the 26-year-old now – what a difference he could have made for the US team.
It’s hard to argue a case for the 26-year-old not being one of the best players in the professional game right now.
But what is the secret behind his recent success?
The reason why Chris Gotterup has two PGA Tour wins already in 2026
Gotterup has been a notoriously slow starter throughout his PGA Tour career, up until this year at least.
In 2025, the American missed eight cuts in his first 12 events, with his best finish a T-16 in the Puerto Rico Open.
The year before that he missed five cuts in his first 10 tournaments of the season and withdrew from one event.
His best finish was a T-35 at the Cognizant Classic.
However, Gotterup has flown out of the blocks in 2026.
The reason for the complete turnaround may well lie in a big decision that Gotterup made during the off-season.
The 26-year-old decided to move home from Oklahoma to Florida.
That has enabled him to play and practice all throughout the winter, meaning that he was able to remain sharp and begin the season in fine fettle.
Chris Gotterup commented on his start to the PGA Tour season
The cold and windy winters in Oklahoma did not allow Gotterup to work on his game during the off-season.
After day one of the Sony Open in January, Gotterup alluded to that.
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He said: “Yeah, I made a move this offseason down to Florida for hopefully reasons like this,” the American said.
“Feel like my game is in better shape just because I’ve been putting in more work at home.“
Gotterup has quite obviously benefitted from his move to Florida and he will undoubtedly continue to get better and better as his career goes on.
What’s so great about the 26-year-old is that his swing is as natural as they come. He can work his ball both ways and is capable of flighting it incredibly low as well as exceptionally high.
He really does have all of the tools required to win multiple majors over the course of the next couple of decades.
Gotterup has already won twice on the PGA Tour this season and it should surprise nobody if he adds to his tally of victories over the next few months.
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