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Three starts into his 2026 PGA Tour season, Chris Gotterup has already picked up two victories. Claiming the season opener at the Sony Open, the big-hitting American returned to the winner's circle at the 2026 WM Phoenix Open by getting the best of Hideki Matsuyama with a birdie on the first playoff hole at TPC Scottsdale.
After signing for an opening 63, Gotterup bookended his tournament with a stellar 64 to post the clubhouse lead at 16 under and then wait as the final groups made their way through the back nine. Gotterup was still one stroke off the lead as Matsuyama made his way to the 18th hole, which he ultimately bogeyed, setting up a playoff between the two.
The win represents not only the second of Gotterup's season but the fourth of his young PGA Tour career. He now has three triumphs across his last 10 PGA Tour starts, dating back to last summer's Scottish Open, where he got the better of Rory McIlroy.
Gotterup was sensational on Thursday, only to get stuck in neutral in the middle of the tournament. However, Gotterup got his groove back, and the birdies started to fly in bunches. Beginning the round four strokes off the pace of Matsuyama, who was a perfect 5 of 5 as a 54-hole leader on the PGA Tour entering Sunday, Gotterup got to work early and often.
He converted an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 2 and then took advantage of the par-5 2nd. Remained at 2 under for his round by the time he made the turn, Gotterup exchanged a birdie for a bogey on Nos. 10 and 12 before sprinting through the finish line and into the winner's circle.
Gotterup grabbed another birdie on the par-5 13th, knocked one close on the tough par-4 14th and added another circle to his scorecard on the second par 5 of his back nine. After getting through the rowdy par-3 16th, Gotterup got back on the birdie train with one from 3 feet on the short par-4 17th. He threw a dart into the last hole to give himself a chance, one he did not pass up.
As in the playoff, Matsuyama made a mess off the tee again, finding the water and leaving the door open for Gotterup, who marched on through with a birdie of his own to leave no doubt both in the tournament and to the argument that he is, indeed, a world-class player. Grade: A+
Here are the grades for the other notable names on the leaderboard at the 2026 WM Phoenix Open.
2. Hideki Matsuyama (-16): He was flying so close to the sun for the entirety of his final round considering how often he was missing fairways. Finding only three on the day, Matsuyama managed his way around the golf course effectively before it finally bit him on the par-4 18th -- not once, but twice. He found the church pews bunker in regulation, leading to bogey, and then found the water in the playoff to cost him the tournament. The rest of his game kept him afloat in the final round, but it was his driver that ultimately sank his chances at winning his third WM Phoenix Open title. Grade: A
T3. Michael Thorbjornsen (-15): The 24-year-old put on a ball-striking clinic this week as he was among the leaders in strokes gained off the tee and greens in regulation. Thorbjorsen got off to a fast start with three birdies in his first five holes and looked uber comfortable in the penultimate grouping. A nice wedge was thrown into the par-5 13th, and a beautiful, high 8 iron stopped quickly on the par-5 15th, leading to an eagle, which gave him the lead with three holes to play. Perhaps due to some adrenaline, Thorbjornsen's tee shot on the par-3 16th settled long off the surface (a big no-no) and led to an untimely bogey, from which he could not recover. The result marks his third career runner-up result and one from which he will certainly learn. Grade: A
T3. Scottie Scheffler (-15): He was 10 strokes off the pace after Thursday and trimmed the margin in half by the end of Saturday. Scheffler got within one stroke of the lead late Sunday after rattling off three straight birdies in the middle of his back nine, but the early deficit proved too much even for the world No. 1. Scheffler did not have his best stuff for most of the week as his short game was uncharacteristically untidy and he struggled to position himself in the fairway often battling the left miss. Despite all this, he still had a chance to win this tournament heading into the back nine, once again displaying how high his floor is even when he is not firing on all cylinders.
"It was good," Scheffler said. "I put myself in a tough position after the first round, but three really solid days. Today was another really good round. I'm going to fall a few shots short it looks like, but overall proud of the fight this week and did some good stuff." Grade: B+
T18. Rickie Fowler (-9): Another week and another quality result for the former WM Phoenix Open winner. Fowler has found the top 20 in his first two starts of the season with this one coming via a strong short-game performance. While his driver misbehaved at times and hindered his chances to to truly contend, Fowler found something with his driver on Sunday and led to a relatively stress-free round of 67. After not winning the last two seasons, Fowler has the look of a potential champion this year. Grade: C+
MC. Jordan Spieth (--): There was a lot of hope for Spieth coming into the week given his history at TPC Scottsdale and what he showed at the Sony Open where he finished inside the top 25. After getting into red figures on Thursday, Spieth backtracked on Friday and made an ill-timed double bogey on the par-4 17th when he chipped his second into the water. All around, Spieth's play was just too sloppy and without many positives to pick from it. Luckily, he now returns to Pebble Beach for the first signature event of the season where he has won before. Grade: F
