Chris Gotterup keeps having special moments at the John Deere Classic.<\/p>\n
Gotterup made his latest memory by shooting 9-under-par 62 Sunday and capturing the John Deere title when Ben Kohles had a late mishap at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always the goal to come out here and try to win,\u201d Gotterup said. \u201cI really like this tournament. They\u2019ve been so nice to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gotterup rose from a 12th-place spot at the beginning of the day to finish at 20-under 264 and win on the PGA Tour for the fifth time, including three triumphs this year.<\/p>\n
Kohles, who was in the final threesome and tied atop the leaderboard, hit his approach shot on No. 18 in the greenside pond. After a penalty stroke, he took a double bogey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m proud of the way I played. I played awesome all week,\u201d Kohles said. \u201cObviously sucks to just have that happen on the last hole.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gotterup said, \u201cObviously to not have to go into a playoff is nice, but I was ready to go for a playoff if need be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Max Homa (64 on Sunday) was the runner-up at 19 under.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a good chance to catch him,\u201d Homa said. \u201cHe just played better. … I had my chances. I just needed to be a little sharper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gotterup played this tournament on a sponsor\u2019s exemption in 2022, tying for fourth place in his first notable result on the PGA Tour. Now, he has something better.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis whole year has been really good if you look at it in a big picture,\u201d said Gotterup, who won the Sony Open in Hawaii and the WM Phoenix Open this winter. \u201cBut I obviously got off to a great start (to the season) and was grinding it out in the middle of the year, but that\u2019s not unexpected. Hopefully, this kickstarts some other great stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gotterup\u2019s bogey-free round allowed him to finish more than an hour prior to the final group. His victory was clinched when Kohles\u2019 chip was off the mark on the final hole.<\/p>\n
Kohles then missed his first putt on the last hole and recorded 68 for the round, causing him to tumble into a tie for third place at 18 under, joining third-round co-leaders Lucas Glover (69) and Lee Hodges (69).<\/p>\n
But it was the approach shot that cost Kohles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hit an 8-iron and thought 9 was going to be too short and thought if I hit a full 8, it could have a chance of going over,\u201d he said. \u201cSo I was just trying to hit kind of a three-quarter punch shot. Just tugged it a little, and obviously ended up in the water.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kohles remains without a PGA Tour victory. He eagled the second hole and played the first eight holes in 5 under.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was my third final group on Sunday on the PGA Tour,\u201d he said. \u201cHonestly, this was the best I\u2019ve felt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gotterup\u2019s score Sunday was four shots better than any of his previous rounds during the tournament.<\/p>\n
Gotterup had his brother, Patrick Gotterup, as his caddie.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a special week even if we didn\u2019t play great,\u201d said Chris Gotterup, who\u2019ll be the defending champion in next week\u2019s Scottish Open.<\/p>\n
Glover, who was also the second-round leader, began the final round strong with birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 but produced only one birdie across the last 15 holes.<\/p>\n
Mac Meissner (64), Jackson Suber (69) and Doug Ghim (68) shared sixth place at 17 under.<\/p>\n
–Field Level Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chris Gotterup keeps having special moments at the John Deere Classic. Gotterup made his latest memory by shooting 9-under-par 62 Sunday and capturing the John Deere title when Ben Kohles…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":480928,"template":"","news_cat":[25,4388,4383,4396],"class_list":["post-480927","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news_cat-pga_tour","news_cat-recap","news_cat-story","news_cat-top-story"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n