NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — As Chris Gotteurp ambled around Aronimink Golf Club on Day 2 of the PGA Championship, his play gave the impression that he possessed some course knowledge.
In fact, Gotterup had never seen Aronimink before Monday. He just feels at home in this neck of the woods, flighting shots into the wind on a brisk Friday morning.
“I slept in my own bed on Sunday, so I take that as a win when I can get it,” Gotterup said. “You know, it’s nice to be back wearing a sweatshirt and being in the Northeast.”
The native of Little Silver, N.J., less than two hours east of here on the Jersey Shore, carded a 5-under-par 65 to leap up the leaderboard during the second round of the PGA Championship. As of Friday afternoon, no other player has shot better than a 67 this week.
Gotterup will take a score of 3-under 137 into the weekend, very much in the mix for a major title. The 26-year-old, who’s won four times since earning his PGA Tour card in 2024, will make the cut at a fourth consecutive major.
He took many by surprise last summer after going toe to toe with Rory McIlroy to win the Scottish Open, then contending all week at Royal Portrush and placing third at the Open Championship.
“I feel like, if I’m playing well, I can compete anywhere,” Gotterup said Friday. “That’s no different here. But I think it’s just hard to say what (the Open) did for me other than build confidence. I felt like I played some of my best golf maybe ever as a pro that week, and I came in third.
“So like it’s just one of those things where you just got to keep — I feel like you got to keep putting yourself in position, and you hope that one day it breaks through and it was your time. But as long as you can keep putting yourself there, I think that’s all you can do.”
Maybe high winds are the common denominator between the British Isles and the Philadelphia suburbs this week.
Wind gusts of around 30 mph have complicated some already diabolical pin positions laid out by the PGA of America. While Gotterup’s first three birdie putts were bombs from 26 1/2, 23 and 20 feet at Nos. 11, 17 and 3, he dialed in some tight approaches on his way to birdieing the last three holes of his round.
At the par-4 seventh, his 100-yard pitch shot stopped 2 feet from the pin despite the wind. Then came the par-3 eighth, the hardest-playing hole this week. Faced with a sand-protected front-right flag, Gotterup landed his tee shot less than 5 feet away.
“Even if it’s a generic shot, if it’s blowing 30 off the right, you’ve got to be able to craft something that is manageable to get it in the middle of the green,” Gotterup said.
“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better since turning pro at being OK with hitting it to 30 feet being a good shot, and I think there’s a lot of that out here. So I think there’s a lot of aspects of being patient, and I feel like I’ve gotten better at that, but also just being creative and being willing to execute a shot that might, you know, you might not try and pull off in a normal week.”
Gotterup, a Rutgers grad, said his parents were in attendance Friday and his girlfriend and her family came to each of the first two rounds, along with a few buddies.
“So it’s been fun in that respect. It makes it feel a little bit more like you’re at home,” Gotterup said. “For how much we’re on the road, you don’t get to feel that that much.”
His family and friends can see firsthand how Gotterup is feeling more at home at the top of major leaderboards.
“Every tournament that I’ve won has been a challenge. So hopefully give myself a challenge come Sunday,” Gotterup said. “I’m just trying to put myself there … and if it comes through, great, and if not, I’ll learn from it.”
