Scottie Scheffler Shares What Impressed Him Most About Chris Gotterup: "Never Going to be a Guy That is..."
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 06: PGA, Golf Herren golfer Scottie Scheffler walks the 9th hole on March 6, 2026, during the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Arnold Palmers Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida. Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire GOLF: MAR 06 PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon26030612
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 06: PGA, Golf Herren golfer Scottie Scheffler walks the 9th hole on March 6, 2026, during the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Arnold Palmers Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida. Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire GOLF: MAR 06 PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon26030612
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is taking notice of PGA Tour star Chris Gotterup’s mental game after a great outing at the PGA Championship on Friday.
Gotterup shot a 65 during the second round of the major and jumped 64 spots on the leaderboard to settle into a tie for third place.
In the tournament presser, Scheffler said that he was “impressed” with Gotterup’s attitude on the greens.
March 3, 2026, Orlando, Florida, USA: Chris Gotterup speaks to the media ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. Orlando USA - ZUMAw109 20260303_fap_w109_006 Copyright: xDebbyxWongx
March 3, 2026, Orlando, Florida, USA: Chris Gotterup speaks to the media ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. Orlando USA - ZUMAw109 20260303_fap_w109_006 Copyright: xDebbyxWongx
"He's not a guy that's really going to get very flustered," Scheffler said. "He may get frustrated from time to time, but he's never going to be a guy that is going to get overly frustrated and have it affect his next shot."
Speaking about Gotterup’s impressive outing on Friday, Scheffler called him a “talented player.”
"It's got to be a heck of a round," Scheffler said. "And, yes, I did see it out there, but I was six shots off of that, so that was a pretty good round.
Scheffler's words underlined how exceptional Gotterup's score was, considering even the world No. 1 finished six shots behind him.
Gotterup started his R2 of the PGA Championship on the 10th hole, adding birdies on the 11th and 17th hole, to go at 2-under 33. On the front nine, he added birdies on the 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 8th, with a bogey on the 1st, ending with a 5-under 65.
Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler had a remarkable start with an opening round of 67 but then carded a 71 on Friday and slipped eight spots on the leaderboard to settle into a tie for ninth place.
Scottie Scheffler Opens Up on Friday's Outing at the PGA Championship
Scheffler struggled early with three bogeys on his opening nine before recovering with a birdie on the 17th.
On the back nine, he made two birdies and one bogey and later talked about his game in the post-round press conference.
"As the conditions were getting better I wish I could have gotten a few more there," he said. "But overall, I did some good stuff. It was still pretty gusty as we played our back nine, which was the front nine as well. So overall, just a challenging morning."
Even with the better second half of the round, Scheffler was not fully satisfied with his performance.
Scheffler is aiming to defend his PGA Championship title after already winning The American Express earlier this season and finishing solo second at the Cadillac Championship last month.
He will tee off for the third round of the major on Saturday at 1:40 p.m. ET in a group with David Puig, while Gotterup will begin his round at 2:30 p.m. ET in a group with Hideki Matsuyama.
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Written by
Ankita Yadav
Edited by
Pulkit Prabhav