The past two weeks for Chris Gotterup have been nothing short of incredible. And everyone wants to know why.
After winning the Genesis Scottish Open and following that up with a third-place finish at The Open, Gotterup – set to compete at the 3M Open in Blahine, Minn. this weekend – doesn't have much of an explanation.
"I wish I knew what it was," Gotterup said. "I feel like I've been in a good rhythm and flow over the last couple months.
"I was talking to my team the last two months about like, all right, I feel like I've got to take the next step here at some point. I didn't know when it was going to happen, if it was going to happen, but I feel like the Scottish was a big step in the right direction, and then to follow it up ...
"Someone asked me last week, media, they were like, have you ever like been on a heater? I was like, I don't think so. Like when I won, I missed the cut the week after. I feel like I've gotten better at just knowing my body and how to react after like, you know, important weeks like that. And yeah, I'm going to try to ride it out as long as I can."
To his point, Gotterup's strong play extends back five tournaments now, as he carded three top-30 finishes before his impressive 1-3 the last two weeks.
That series of results has elevated him to No 23 in the official FedEx standings. Understandably, his goals have shifted upward, as he now eyes a top-30 finish and a trip to East Lake for the Tour Championship in late August.
"I feel like I have a different set of circumstances in front of me," he said. "I would like to get to East Lake and then obviously see what happens from there. Yeah, I feel like I'm playing with house money at the moment, especially with what's happened. I'm excited for the rest of the season."
Gotterup knows the best way to get there is to continue to play well. That might be a tougher assignment at the 3M, where he finished in a tie for 59th a year ago. In his debut at the event in 2022, he finished in a tie for 31st.
Fortunately, his confidence right now couldn't be higher.
"At The Open, I felt like, all right, I've done this, I've hit some quality shots under the gun. I think it definitely carried over, and I don't see why that won't carry over into the future. It just gave me a bit more confidence knowing that, one, when it's show time, I have the ability to step up and hit the shots."