Chris Gotterup shot a 5-under 65 on Friday at the PGA Championship, the low round of the tournament, and finished with three straight birdies on a day when cold wind and treacherous greens made Aronimink a grind in Newtown Square, Pa.
The round put Gotterup in the middle of a leaderboard that kept changing as the afternoon wore on. Scottie Scheffler salvaged a 1-over 71 after not hitting a fairway until his ninth hole, Alex Smalley shot a 69 to set the early target at 4-under 136, and Hideki Matsuyama posted a 67. Cameron Young needed an 8-foot eagle putt to get to 67, Justin Thomas hung on for a 69, and Dustin Johnson signed for an even-par 70. Aldrich Potgieter was trying to become the youngest golfer with a 36-hole lead at a major since Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters, while Rory McIlroy bogeyed his final four holes Thursday and shot 74 and Bryson DeChambeau did not make a birdie until his final hole Thursday and shot 76.
Gotterup, 25, said the day felt nothing like a routine scoring chance. “Today would definitely be one of those days where I would be on the couch and I would be like, ‘How did he hit it there?’ and ‘How did he do this?’ And then you’re out there, and it just feels like it’s impossible,” he said. “I really battled all day,” he added. “It was very hard.” He also said, “There were some pins that didn't even look like they were on the green.”
That mattered because Aronimink was already plenty difficult before the blustery conditions turned it into a stern test. Gotterup grew up 100 miles away and played college golf at Rutgers, which gave his surge a local edge on a course that was punishing even the game’s best players. His 65 was also another sign of the form that has lifted him into the top tier of the sport, with three PGA TOUR titles since July, two this year, and a climb to No. 10 in the world.
The friction in the round was easy to see in Scheffler’s fightback and in how many of the field’s biggest names had to scramble just to survive. Scheffler entered the round with a share of the 18-hole lead for the first time in a major, then spent much of the day chasing the fairway before steadying himself. Gotterup, by contrast, kept finding answers when the course kept asking for more, and his finish left him as one of the few players who could walk off Friday knowing he had taken control of the day rather than just endured it.
