One of golf’s next big things — and the Masters bet he made with himself

Chris Gotterup is a betting man, though one of golf’s next big things isn’t a cash-on-the-line, checking-the-odds kinda guy. No, no. That’s forbidden, after all.  

But he knows a winner when he sees one. 

Take last week, when he was grouped with Scottie Scheffler for rounds one and two of the WM Phoenix Open. After 18 holes, Scheffler was playing most un-Scheffler-like, but Gotterup understood where things stood: The world No. 1’s two-over day was only a hiccup — and money couldn’t leave his wallet fast enough for round two, provided he could do such a thing. 

“Everyone has seen it out here,” Gotterup said. 

“If I could bet on golf, I would have put a lot of money on him to come out and play good on Friday.”

OK, OK, so you probably thought the same, and Scheffler did finish eight strokes better. How about this, then? If you really want to hear about a wager, and if you really want a peek at what’s underneath Gotterup’s Nike golf hat, he can tell you about the time his dad promised him he’d take him to Pebble Beach, the cathedral that is the host of this week’s PGA Tour stop, but only when he’d break par — then, when he was 13 or 14, Gotterup went out and shot a two-under 69 at Rumson Country Club in New Jersey. (“I have the scorecard somewhere in my house. … My mom’s like got it framed.”)

And there’s this: 

Know that his Masters trip in a couple of months will be his first — but that is by his own choosing. Gotterup’s been invited to the tournament before. 

And he said simply, thanks, but no thanks. 

He’s a player. And he’d go when he’d play. 

“I haven’t been invited to play, in general,” Gotterup said Wednesday. “But I would go down — one of my sponsors would do a dinner down there every Wednesday before and they would ask if I wanted to go over on Thursday and watch. 

“I don’t know, I feel like it would ruin my — like one, I don’t really like watching other people play unless I’m not playing that week. It’s just my, I don’t know, I’m kind of weird in that sense. Like I wanted it to be, like it’s the most hyped-up tournament in the sport and I don’t want to go over there and be a spectator; I want to play. 

“I had faith in myself that I was going to be able to do it as a player. Now that I’m going to be able to, it will be much more rewarding stepping on the first tee there rather than being a fan.”

He’ll go as a favorite, too. Last year, he won the Genesis Scottish Open. This year, he’s won the Sony Open and the WM Phoenix Open. He’s blended power throughout the bag with touch from up close. Those play well at Augusta National. 

As does confidence in one self.  

“It’s just one of those tournaments where I think — like here is similar in the fact that I could tell you every hole on that course even if I didn’t step foot on it,” Gotterup said. 

“So I’m excited to just kind of be out there and enjoy maybe in one of these off weeks, enjoy, like get the, not the nerves, but like the awe factor of it hopefully away and try to get settled in by the time the tournament comes. 

“Just talking to like at the Bridgestone, stuff that we’ve done, talking to Freddie [Couples] and Tiger [Woods] and Jason [Day] and all these guys like about it, it’s just the only tournament that everyone talks about all the time. I don’t know, it’s just exciting.” 

<figure class="youtube-facade" data-content="

“>