Chris Gotterup has a game that travels. It wasn't always that way

He can't even recall the name of the tournament or the course, much less his actual score, and he could only guess where he placed.

“Just look up T-94,” he said with a laugh.

It was a trip that made Gotterup realize there was no need to stray too far from his home in New Jersey given the quality of the golf courses in the Garden State and the competition across the New York metropolitan area. That's one reason he wound up at Rutgers for three years before closing out his college career at Oklahoma.

It all seems like a lifetime ago, and so do the last 12 months.

Gotterup showed up at the Scottish Open last year at No. 158 in the world. His only PGA Tour title was in 2024 at the Myrtle Beach Classic against a weak field because it was held opposite one of the $20 million signature events.

He now has as many PGA Tour wins — four — as Scottie Scheffler in the last year.

Gotterup took on Rory McIlroy and a Scottish crowd at The Renaissance Club to win the Scottish Open last year. In his three victories this year, he closed with a 64 in the Sony Open, a 64 in the WM Phoenix Open and a 62 when he rallied from five back to win the John Deere Classic.

That makes Gotterup the only player in at least 50 years to have three wins in a season by posting 64 or lower in the final round.

And he is No. 7 in the world, firmly planted among the elite young Americans in golf. Cameron Young and Collin Morikawa are the only other players under 30 who are among the top 10 in the world.

What happened?

“I feel like everyone’s asked what have I done differently, and I don’t think I’ve done much differently. If I knew, I would have done it a lot longer ago,” Gotterup said. “I felt like I kept my head down and kept working hard on things with the help of my coaches and family and girlfriend. We try to keep things simple and it’s worked out. Hopefully, keep improving, too.”

This rise wasn't too much out of left field.

Sticking close to home — Gotterup was the Met Amateur champion in 2019 — didn't bring him a lot of national attention or offers from some of the established golf programs. Gotterup wound up at Rutgers for three years and felt he improved.

But then the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, he had surgery on his hand and Big 10 golf became an uncertainty. Gotterup felt it was time for a change.

“I was very comfortable at Rutgers, which was a good thing,” he said. “From New Jersey ... I played there for 20-something years. I needed to be challenged a little bit. I just needed to change my whole scenery and make life a little harder.”

And then he made it look easy. The idea was to see how his game measured against a broader range of talent. Gotterup had such a blockbuster senior year with the Sooners that he swept all the top awards — the Ben Hogan, Haskins and Jack Nicklaus as the top college player in the country.

So he didn't exactly show up out of nowhere when he won at Myrtle Beach in 2024, though it took until the Scottish Open last year that he really began to pique interest.

Two of his victories in the last 12 months were wind-blown coastal venues — the Firth of Forth in Scotland, the Pacific Ocean a few miles southwest of Waikiki in Honolulu. He won in desert terrain of the TPC Scottsdale and a rain-soaked, tree-lined course at the TPC Deere Run.

That was part of his reasoning in leaving New Jersey for Oklahoma.

“We traveled all over the country,” he said. “I needed to be able to play on Bermuda grass. I needed to play in the wind and play against different teams and just see where I stack up.”

Gotterup returns with a high world ranking and higher expectations against one of the strongest fields of the year that features Scottie Scheffler and McIlroy, along with the likes of Jon Rahm (LIV Golf) and Patrick Reed (European tour) in a tournament seen as a dress rehearsal for the British Open.

Gotterup's win at The Renaissance Club got him into his first British Open — and only his fourth major championship — and he fought to the end to finish third at Royal Portrush.

Where he has been — and how he got there — is not nearly as intriguing now as where he goes. Gotterup, with a physique reminiscent of Angels outfielder Mike Trout, already has proven that he has a game that travels.

“I know what I’m capable of and these last couple months, years have been rewarding,” he said. “But also, once you kind of get a taste of it, I think you want more and more.”

On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season. AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf