Chris Gotterup recently relocated to Florida from Oklahoma, and he had a very specific reason behind making the move: a pretty reasonable one.

The American admitted that while he loved living in Oklahoma, the winter conditions were making it tough to prepare properly for early-season PGA Tour stops in warmer locations. On January 16, Cameron Jordan shared an X update featuring the 26-year-old revealing the reason behind his relocation.

Gotterup said, "I felt like the last couple of years, I started the tournaments really rough out of the gate. I loved living in Oklahoma, but 40 degrees and 40 mile an hour winds in December is not ideal for coming to Palm Springs or Hawai'i. So I just figured that was the smart move to make."

Although Gotterup looked back positively on his final college season at the University of Oklahoma, where he earned top collegiate honors, he ultimately felt relocating to Florida was the right move to continue flourishing in his career.

While nothing can be said about how the relocation will affect him in the long run, its short-term results have been pretty eventful for the 26-year-old American golfer.

Chris Gotterup is experiencing the positive effects of moving to Florida

Gotterup's aforementioned statement displays that performing better in the Sony Open was at the back of his mind while moving from Oklahoma to Florida. And it is paying its dividends.

The Oklahoma-native's relocation showed immediate results on the first day of the Sony Open in Hawaii. Gotterup posted eight birdies and one bogey to sit one shot off the lead.

He averaged more than 310 yards off the tee at Waialae Country Club. Currently, he is tied for third place after a 7-under opening round.

During his post-round media appearance, Gotterup admitted, "I made a move this offseason down to Florida for hopefully reasons like this. Feel like my game is in better shape just because I've been putting in more work at home."

With two days of the Sony Open in Hawaii still to come, and multiple coveted tournaments later in the year, it will be interesting to see whether Gotterup's relocation results in sustained improvement of his game.

Written by

Aditi Singh

Edited by

Souvik Roy