Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Hold Up, It's Gotterup

Chris Gotterup has a very important commitment out of the country in the coming days. So it was a bit curious why he would choose to spend last week in the Midwest -- in Silvis, Illinois, to be precise.

You see, the John Deere Classic means a lot to Gotterup. Even though he's a big deal now as one of the 10 best golfers in the world, he hasn't forgotten when he wasn't a big deal, when his world ranking needed a third digit and a whole lot more.

So, Gotterup played the Deere, even though he must be in Scotland and adapt to the time change in defense of his Scottish Open title.

Now, Gotterup likes the Deere even more. He shot a final-round 9-under 62 on Sunday at TPC Deere Run to win his third tournament of the season and fifth of his PGA Tour career. And this one was made more special by having younger brother Patrick on the bag.

Despite Gotterup's brilliant play, he needed a 72nd-hole meltdown from Ben Kohles to close the deal. Needing a birdie to win and a par to force a playoff, Kohle inexplicably sent his approach from the middle of the fairway into the water, wound up with double bogey and tied for third. Max Homa -- remember him? -- came away with the runner-up's check.

Back in 2022, Gotterup was a relative nobody. And yet he received a sponsor's invite to play in the Deere. He tied for fourth.

"It really kick-started my whole career, honestly," Gotterup said on Sunday. "At that time I had no status anywhere. To get a fourth here was the biggest tournament of my life at that point.

"Obviously we're biased towards places that we play well at and that we like, and this is one of those for me. To be able to come back and win makes it even more special."

To think that playing the Deere a week before the Scottish Open and two weeks before the Open Championship wouldn't be the most prudent decision, well, think again. Gotterup played the Deere last year and tied for 21st, then won the Scottish in a Sunday duel with Rory McIlroy and finished third at the Open.

That late-season burst led many to think Gotterup should make the Ryder Cup team. He didn't.

That has helped fuel him this season, hoping to make the Presidents Cup team (he will) and next year's Ryder Cup team.

Gotterup opened 2026 with a win in January at the Sony Open in Hawaii and then a month later took down the WM Phoenix Open. The Deere makes him the only three-time winner on Tour this season, if you don't want to include Matt Fitzpatrick's team title at the Zurich Classic.

"This whole year has been really good," Gotterup said, "if you look at it in a big picture, I obviously got off to a great start and was grinding it out in the middle of the year, but that's not unexpected. Yeah, obviously hopefully this kick-starts some other great stuff."

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Max Homa
If there's any doubt how popular a golfer Homa remains despite years of poor play, check out the social media posts after his best finish on the PGA Tour in more than three years. Homa's runner-up was his first since the 2023 Genesis Invitational (he did win a tournament in South Africa in late 2023). It's been a tough road for the former top-5 player in the world. He has swallowed his pride to step down and play the John Deere and the alternate-field ISCO Championship this week. Homa shot a final-round 64 and heard the cheers from the Quad Cities galleries. After being well outside the top-100 in the world and far from playoff position in the latter portion of the season, Homa is up to 73rd in the Official World Golf Ranking and inside the top 50 in the FedExCup Standings.

Ben Kohles
Kohles was oh-so-close to a rare double: winning on the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour in the same season. Unfortunately for him, this was not the first time he experienced 72nd-hole disaster with a tournament on the line. It happened at the 2024 Byron Nelson, where a bogey on 18 gave the win to Taylor Pendrith. On Sunday, Kohles not only missed his par putt on 18 to lose the tournament, he missed his bogey putt to fall into a tie for third. A win would've not only gotten Kohles back on the PGA Tour, it would've got him into the playoffs. Instead, he forges on to the opposite-field ISCO this week and, at age 36, still in search of his first Tour win.

Lucas Glover
Glover owned at least a share of the lead for a good chunk of the tournament. But, ultimately, he didn't have the firepower -- or the putter -- to keep up. While Gotterup shot 62 on Sunday and Homa shot 64, Glover closed with a 69 to tie for third after owning the 54-hole lead. It was by far his best result of the season but still leaves a lot of work to do to qualify for the playoffs next month. Glover ranked 54th in the field in SG: Putting.

Lee Hodges
Hodges tied for third for his second top-10 of the season. The other one came way back in the season-opening Sony. In other words, this was much needed for Hodges to make the playoffs. It's a good first step, but he still sits 92nd in points, and only 70 get in.

Jackson Suber
Suber is making a very strong bid for the playoffs. His tie for sixth was his third top-6 in his past six starts, moving him to 78th in the standings. He's missed only one cut since April. Suber is ranked 18th on Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach, which explains a lot about his recent surge.

Mac Meissner
Meissner made a spirited run up the leaderboard with a Sunday 64 to tie for sixth. That's his third stroke-play top-10 of the season, all coming in the past two months. The surge has moved him inside the 70-player threshold needed to qualify for the playoffs.

Doug Ghim
Ghim has often been held back by his putter. But at the Deere, he ranked 14th in SG: Putting, gaining more than four strokes on the field. That allowed him to tie for sixth, his best finish of the season. Ghim has a long way to go to qualify for the playoffs. But he's trending in the right direction. Before the Deere, he tied for 15th in Canada.

Zach Johnson
Johnson gave up a major – the Senior Open, a tournament in which he would've been one of the favorites  – to play his beloved John Deere Classic. Not only did he make the cut for the 20th straight year, he tied for ninth, his best showing there in years.

Zac Blair
Blair is still searching for his first PGA Tour victory. On Sunday, he had the top spot on the leaderboard in his 234th career start while shooting a 3-under front-nine. But he got nothing going on the back and fell into a tie for ninth. He also qualified and made the cut at the U.S. Open last month, so Blair is on a nice little run.

Ryo Hisatsune
Hisatsune got off to a great start to the season. By the beginning of April, he had four top-10s. But he didn't get another until tying for ninth at the Deere. It's a great season, one that has seen Hisatsune make 19 of 20 cuts to sit far inside the playoff cutoff.

Blades Brown
While so much of the attention focused on 21-year-old Jackson Koivun making his pro debut, the 19-year-old Brown has been playing great all season. He added to that with a tie for 12th. In eight starts, he has five top-25s.

Rickie Fowler
Fowler's fantastic start to the season hit a brick wall with three straight missed cuts culminating with the U.S. Open. He didn't have a good Travelers either, but at least there was no cut. So tying for 15th, even at a lesser tournament, had to be a welcome relief. Fowler is still top-30 in the standings, but he is by no means assured of a spot in the TOUR Championship.

Preston Stout
With Koivun turning pro at the Deere, the new world No. 1 amateur is Stout, who was in the field on a sponsor invite. He acquitted himself nicely, shooting four rounds in the 60s to tie for 15th. It's the first time he's made a cut in four PGA Tour starts.

Keith Mitchell
Mitchell was among the betting favorites and high-priced players in daily contests. But birdie-fests and guys who don't putt well are not a good mix. Mitchell tied for 51st.

Jordan Spieth
Spieth tied for 58th in a weak field. He was just one of the guys out there. He still does not have a top-10 all season.

MISSED CUTS

Jackson Koivun, Michael Thorbjornsen, Daniel Berger. It had to be a huge disappointment for Koivun to MC in his pro debut, after playing so well in so many events as an amateur. He recently tied for 23rd at the U.S. Open to share low amateur. … Thorbjornsen used to be Koivun, the top guy coming out of college. He's now 24 -- still young -- but it's fair to say he has not delivered as expected. He has one top-10 all season. … The season has not been great for Berger, and it's getting worse. He just missed his third cut in four starts, with the fourth being a no-cut event.

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