Chris Gotterup caught a lucky break when his tee shot deflected off a foul pole marker, redirecting into an advantageous position.

During the opening round of the John Deere Classic, Gotterup's drive took a wild trajectory, flying over trees and markers before hitting the pole and ricocheting back into a fairway. It helped him finish his day 5-under-par, tying for ninth place after Day 1.

PGA Tour's official X account shared the video of the moment on July 2, captioning it: "Chris Gotterup uses the foul pole to his advantage @JDClassic."

Chris Gotterup didn't take credit for the break himself.

"Good caddying, @pat_gotterup," he said after the round, pointing to his older brother Patrick Gotterup. Patrick frequently loops for him at professional events.

While Chris Gotterup is known for an aggressive 'Drive Far, Miss Smart' approach that often involves wild trajectories and creative recoveries, he hasn't intentionally banked shots off poles before.

In January, during the second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii (a tournament he went on to win), Chris Gotterup hit back-to-back shots on the par-5 ninth hole that stunned the crowd. He started with a stinger off the tee, then followed it with a very low hook out of the rough.

"Two of the weirdest shots, back-to-back, I've seen on the PGA Tour. Ever," Golf Channel analyst Arron Oberholser said.

Three months later, he made headlines for a whiff on the 15th hole at the RBC Heritage. After that, he handled it with humor.

“Hopefully, someone has video of my whiff on hole 15 today,” he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, the John Deere Classic is the tournament that gave him his life as a professional golfer.

For Gotterup, the John Deere Classic is much more than a tournament

The John Deere Classic is actually the place where it all began for Gotterup.

Before Silvis, Gotterup was a college golfer trying to figure out how to survive as a pro. He turned professional in June 2022 after winning both the Haskins and Nicklaus Awards at Oklahoma, but his first month on Tour was rocky.

He missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open, then followed it with a T-43 at the U.S. Open and a T-35 at the Travelers Championship.

By the time he arrived at the John Deere Classic, it was just his fourth start, and he only got in on a sponsor's exemption. Gotterup closed the week with a final-round 66, birdieing his last three holes to finish T-4.

It was by far the best result of his short pro career at that point. The finish helped push him toward a Korn Ferry Tour card. And after a season building his game on that circuit, he earned his way back to the PGA Tour in 2024.

And now in his 4th appearance at the John Deere Classic, Gotterup said his biggest loss would be the people he has built relationships with if he can't perform here due to the Tour's upcoming changes.

"I think it is to people, they were nice to me," he said on the July 2 episode of Straight Facts Homie podcast. "But it is one of those things where I know Andy and Nathan on a personal level just from being here for so many years, and the same with the people at Deere. So I think that would be the tough part."

What do you think of Gotterup's advantageous position? Let us know in the comments.

Read more at Club Golf.

Written by

Md Saife Fida

Edited by

Soheli Tarafdar