The American Chris Gotterup (-16), aged 26, kicked off the new PGA Tour season by securing victory with a two-shot lead at the Sony Open in Hawaii, a tournament held from Thursday to Sunday at the Waialae Country Club in Honolulu. The golfer from Maryland, with a final round of 64 strokes, managed to seal his third victory on the tour at the first attempt, gradually establishing himself in the elite of world golf.
Gotterup opened his title account by winning the Myrtle Beach Classic in 2024, during his rookie year. Last summer, he triumphed at the Genesis Scottish Open, a tournament co-sanctioned by the US circuit and the DP World Tour, defeating Rory McIlroy. And this Sunday, overcoming the two-shot deficit he faced in the standings before tackling the final 18 holes of the tournament, he has achieved his third consecutive season with at least one tour victory.
The player trained at Rutgers University, relying on power with the driver, precision with the putter, and a great ability to avoid mistakes, with a full recovery rate, was the one who best capitalised on the ‘collapse’ of Davis Riley (-11), the leader at the end of the third round who played one stroke over par today, to claim the $1,638,000 cheque awarded by the Sony Open, take the lead in the FedEx Cup, and continue his unstoppable climb in the Official World Golf Ranking.
A year ago, after missing the cut in this same tournament, Gotterup was ranked 195th in the world. With today’s victory, he rises to 17th position, already placing himself among the best on his own merits. “This week I felt in a good mindset, I felt I had control of my mind, which is the most important thing. I played very well and made some important putts at the necessary moments,” acknowledged Chris after his emphatic triumph.
With four birdies and a bogey in the first half of his round and another three birdies without error in the second, he managed to beat Ryan Gerard (-14), who submitted a final card of 65 strokes to finish second alone, and Patrick Rodgers (-13), third on the leaderboard, whose birdie production stalled on the back nine at Waialae, missing a good opportunity to open his account on the PGA Tour.
Riley, who started at the top of the leaderboard, began the day with two birdies in the first five holes that kept him as the leader, but in three holes, between the 6th and 8th, he committed two consecutive bogeys and a double bogey, sending his ball among the trees with a completely uncontrolled drive from which he was unable to recover. He finished tied for sixth, even behind Robert MacIntyre (-12), the best European, and Jacob Bridgeman (-12).
Gotterup, very solid from the tee, managed to win the sprint race that the final day of competition in the tournament became with a great putt for birdie on the 12th from nearly seven metres and another of over eight on the 13th, the most difficult hole on the course. With a superb iron shot on the par-three 17th, where he made his last successful shot of the day, he sealed the victory that makes him the first winner of the 2026 PGA Tour season and already places him among the names to watch on the tour.
The Canadian Nick Taylor (-9), who was defending the title he won at this same event last year, finished tied for 13th position alongside Hideki Matsuyama (-9), among others. Jordan Spieth (-7) was 24th at the end. Meanwhile, Vijay Singh (-5), after making the cut at 62 years of age, concluded the tournament tied with players like the Australian Adam Scott (-5) in 40th place on the leaderboard, a remarkable display of talent with which to combat the physical disadvantage.
