Before taking on the challenge of Shinnecock Hills at this week’s U.S. Open, Little Falls, N.J., native and Rutgers product Chris Gotterup sat down for some Q&A with The Post’s Steve Serby.
Q: What would it mean to you to win this U.S. Open?
A: You just want to build yourself to be a major championship player. Obviously, if I could get it done this week at a local U.S. Open, it would be even more meaningful. But at the same time, there’s not pressure on myself to get it done. I just hope that I can give myself a chance coming down the back nine. The U.S. Open has always been one of my favorite tournaments, and hopefully one day I can hoist that trophy. But I’m gonna continue to just do what I’m doing and try to keep my head down and work hard, and then we’ll see where that takes me.
Q: Can you win it?
A: I think if I play how I like to think I can, I think I can get it done and I hope to get it done. But I’m not gonna get ahead of myself as well — [I] haven’t hit a shot yet, so … You just have to keep putting yourself there, and hopefully I do that.
Q: What are the chances if you did win it you would cry afterward?
A: A hundred percent.
Q: Why do you get so emotional after wins?
A:. I don’t know. … I do know but I don’t know. I’m not an emotional guy. I don’t really get choked up or anything. I think it’s just like your brain just goes back to all these moments, the tough times, all so quickly, and the whole day you’re suppressing all those emotions to try to get it done. And then you can finally let it all out and it all just kind of hits you at once, and then you have Amanda [Balionis, CBS golf reporter] or whoever is asking me these questions that are just trying to make you cry. It’s a lot of emotions at once. You did it, you reached the moment you’ve been working so hard for that week in your life. I don’t know why I cry, but you just think about all the people that have helped you, the sacrifice your parents made, your girlfriend [Samantha] who travels and deals with all your s–t on the road. It’s just fun to share it with everyone, and I don’t know why I cry but I do.
Q: Are you into visualization?
A: Whether it’s putting or hitting a shot, I try to see the shot before I hit the shot.
Q: Do you allow yourself to visualize walking to the 18th green with the lead?
A: That’s what I work hard to get to. It’s funny, it’s one of those things where you’re out there the whole time trying to not let yourself do that ’cause I think it takes away from what you’re doing in the moment. When I grew up watching stuff, you’d think about those moments and when you’re practicing on the course … you do it when you’re not there, you think about those moments and you visualize about those moments, but the second that tournament starts, those moments go away and you’re just focused on how can I put myself in the best possible position, and you hope to get to that point. But during the tournament, no, I don’t think about that stuff.
Q: What do you expect from the New York golf crowd?
A: I expect people out in waves. I know logistics are a little tough for this tournament, but I’m sure there’s gonna be a big crowd. Especially after Philly this year. [The] Philly crowd was amazing, they were out in droves, and I expect no different from New York fans. Obviously, they’re riding a high right now, so probably try to keep it going.
Q: Is the New York golf crowd different from others?
A: I would say so. I think they’re probably a little more rowdy. I would say they’re probably similar to Philly in the way they’ll get behind their guys and everyone will be out in droves to watch the best players in the world, and I feel like it’s unique for the Northeast in general just ’cause we aren’t here that much — other than the Travelers, we’re really not consistently in the Northeast. It’s a big deal for us, but I think it makes it even kind of feel bigger when you get the big crowds and people that are hungry for some tournament golf up here.
Q: What do you know about Shinnecock?
A: I’ve only been once, so I know a little bit. I know it’s hard. All these U.S. Opens are weather-dependent, and they can get crazy. Last year was really bad weather the last day and made the course even harder than it already is. But I know that it’s not overly like scary like some U.S. Opens where it’s not like there’s water everywhere, or the rough is super high — it’s just a kind of right-in-front-of-you golf course. But the greens are the size of a penny when it gets firm. … It’s just hard. From all accounts, I just remember there’s no … gap in the course where like, “All right, I can get these three holes.” It’s just every hole is trying to punch you in the face. I think the U.S. Open’s unique in the fact that you sign up for that. You know you’re getting yourself into a fight. Everyone’s prepares for it, and I’m gonna try to be as prepared for it as possible.
Q: What do you like best right now about your game?
A: I like the way I’m driving it. I feel like this year’s probably been my most consistent in terms of driving the ball. I’ve been putting pretty well relatively speaking; that’s kind of always been one of my…not issues, but if I putt well, I play well. Everyone else does, too. I’m in a good spot. Obviously got off to a hot start this year, but it’s just a long season, so trying to stay as consistent as possible.
Q: How cool is it for you averaging 327 yards off the tee?
A: It’s cool when it’s going straight, that’s for sure. When it’s not going straight, it’s not as cool. Driver’s my weapon, and if I can use that effectively, then usually I play pretty good if I’m driving it well.
Q: You’re now one of the top American players. What is the main reason for your ascension?
A: I think it’s just a lot of hard work, and a lot of ups and downs that everyone goes through. I’m sure I’ll continue to go through them, but I feel like I’ve always kind of kept my head down and worked on what I thought was right and what my team had thought was right. Whether it was right or wrong, we’re all in on it. Whether it’s blind faith or whatever you want to call it, I was gonna see it through and then get to where I think I could get to, and hopefully I’m not done with that journey yet. I just think I put myself in contention, I’ve tried to do all the right things, I’ve tried to learn from being around some of the best in the world. I feel like I’ve tried to put that into everything that I do, and so far it’s been great and it’s been a lot of fun. It’s been hard but it’s been a lot of fun at the same time, so hopefully continue to keep doing that and putting myself in good positions and trying to keep knocking on the door.
Q: On a scale of 1-10, where is your confidence level?
A: [In the] 8-9 range. I try to take every week as its own separate kind of entity and then obviously look at it on a bigger scale for the whole year. But this week is the biggest week of golf for me. I’m not sitting here trying to put too much pressure on it, at the end of the day it is just one tournament at the same time. But yeah, it’s a big deal and I’m excited, and I feel like I’ve been playing well this year, so just trying to keep that going.
Q: What do you recall about last year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont?
A: I felt like the first day I played not great, the course got me a little bit. I really thought my whole year kind of got kick-started by those two little rounds Friday and Saturday. I shot back-to-back under-par rounds and shot myself from like 100 to 10th or something like that. I think it just gave me the belief that I was shooting scores that were better than most of the field and some of the best players in the world. The last day was hard, I just kept making bogeys. … Even when you’re struggling in those conditions when you’re done, you sit back and you’re like, “That is such a cool tournament.” And you watch J.J.’s [Spaun] putt and it’s just like you just hope one day you can put yourself in that position to do something like that.
Q: Describe your mentality on the golf course.
A: I think it fluctuates, I think it depends on how things are going. I like to think of a tournament as a marathon a little bit … how can I get myself in a place where, come Sunday, I’m in the mix coming down the back nine? I think that’s kind of how we try to think of it. Whether I get off to a great start or not, I’m in the lead after the first round, or kind of slow start and try to just plug along and get to where I need to get to, whether that’s me being aggressive or being kind of conservative. … It really is hard to, like, be the same person every single day, just depending on how you’re playing and what the course gives you. I’ve gotten better at that and dealing with that and then hopefully can put it to work this week.
Q: Biggest adversity you’ve had to overcome?
A: I’d say it probably was in college. I tore my ligament in my thumb the week before COVID. I was an All-American that year and obviously it got cut short ’cause of COVID, but my hand was kind of messed up, so I had a bone graft done and I had a torn ligament in my hand, and it took me probably a legit year to kind of get fully back to where I thought I could be. There were times there where I was shooting 84, 85 in tournaments over the summer when I came back post-surgery and I was like, “This is obviously not good. I might be not the same person that I was before.” I think all that stuff kind of builds some grit and toughness, and I just kind of kept plugging along and tried to get it back, and obviously have come out on the other side and been a better person and player ’cause of it.
But even after my rookie year — I won early in my rookie year — I think I made like five out of 20 cuts to finish the year, and you’re just like, you think you’d win, you think you got it all figured out, you just don’t. There’s just a lot of learning lessons to be had out on the Tour. I’m continuing to learn and trying to use it all and keep pushing forward. It’s not easy, but it’s very rewarding when it goes your way.
Q: What drives you?
A: I love the game, I love the grind of what we do, and the countless hours on the range … and all of the little things that go into hitting the golf ball 72 holes. I love being around the guys, I love working with my team. A lot of what I like comes from my team, my family, girlfriend, everyone pushing me … when I need to be pushed a little bit. And I’m not afraid to go out there and stick my nose out, whether that goes my way or doesn’t go my way, I’ll be happy with leaving it all out there. I just love it, I think it’s the best job in the world, and I’m gonna do everything in my power to keep it as long as I can.
Q: You don’t feel pressure very much, do you?
A: (Laughs) I don’t know about that. I’d be lying through my teeth if I said I didn’t feel pressure. If I don’t feel pressure something’s probably wrong. Going back to Waste Management this year where everyone is rooting for you, and you have to step up there and you have to execute. It feels like your life depends on it at the moment, and to pull off the shots in those moments is the best feeling in the world. It’s the highest of highs. It’s just so much fun. I wish people can understand the adrenaline rush and the pure release that you have … like when that putt goes in, I don’t even remember what happened, it’s just like the craziest 30 seconds of … like you just have no idea what just happened and your life changes — your golf life changes. It’s just so cool. I try to put myself in that moment as best I can.
Q: Your father once said that as a junior golfer you were more likely to wonder what you might order at Taco Bell than go back to the range.
A: I think he’s giving me a little bit of a jab there. I think, now especially, when you look at sports in general, these kids are being professionals at 14, 15 years old, and that’s just not how I functioned. I didn’t really care. I mean, I loved golf when I played and practiced, but I didn’t really care, I was gonna go eat pizzas with my friends and go do all this stuff. I definitely wasn’t in tip-top shape back then either. I don’t know, I just think my maturity took a little while. My parents were never gonna push me to be a pro golfer, I needed to push myself and they would help me in the long run. I think if I was traveling the country as a junior golfer I would have ended up hating golf, just because I didn’t want to do that then. Now I want to do it, and I don’t take it for granted.
Q: After you won the Sony Open you said, “I was in control of my brain.”
A: I just think golf is unique in the fact that you hit the ball and you have to walk five minutes. Your brain is just going nonstop about what could happen — good, bad, ugly. So I just felt like that day I was at peace with the outcome whatever it was gonna be, and I just felt like I was in a good frame of mind and felt like I was … not getting too ahead of myself when I had a two-shot lead or whatever coming down the back. I just really was focused on executing. I wasn’t letting some intrusive thoughts get in the way of what I was gonna do that day. Some days you have it like that, then you feel like you’re unbeatable, then there’s other days where there’s a lot of doubt. You try to override it the best you can.
Q: The 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic, your first PGA Tour victory.
A: Obviously, the first one is awesome. It wasn’t a full field event but it still meant equally as much if not more to me. Being a rookie is almost near impossible to keep your card without winning. I remember the last day, I played great all week, had a four-shot lead and couldn’t sleep. I woke up at 3 a.m. and I just went on a walk at the beach for three, four hours to just kind of ease my mind and get all the thoughts out of my head, and show up and bogey the first two holes and my lead [is] gone.
I was really proud of the way I bounced back and closed it out with winning by six. It was a great day, and it kind of just bought me time to develop and mature. ’Cause if I didn’t win, I probably would have lost my card and then who knows where I am now? Maybe not the biggest win of my career so far, but most meaningful for sure just in terms of what it did for me time-wise and faith in my game.
Q: Winning the 2025 Scottish Open.
A: In my interviews I said Myrtle Beach was kind of my foot in the door, and then Scottish I kind of took the other step and I was fully kind of on the PGA Tour at that point. Back to what I was saying, you just practice to put yourself in those moments to go up against one of the best to ever do it on foreign soil, where 99.9 percent of the people were rooting for [Rory McIlroy]. It was just so much fun, and I enjoyed every moment of it. It was emotional for me. The whole day I felt the magnitude of what the day was gonna mean to me whether I did it or not, and to kind of step out on top and get it done was really cool.
Q: The 2025 British Open, and other highlights?
A: The Open was amazing, some of the best golf I played. Came in third there, that was my best finish in a major by far so far. … Playing my first Masters was really cool, and having a decent week there was awesome.
I think for me now being down in Florida and being around the guys. … I remember when I first came out on Tour, you’re walking down the range and you’re like, “Wow, that guy, he’s won X, he’s won how many majors? This guy’s one of the best in the world.” Now that I’m playing and practicing with those guys that I remember walking down the range and being kind of starstruck by, like, now they’re my friends. I just think that’s been the coolest part of the whole journey. I enjoy being around all the guys, and I think we’re all friends even though we all have very different lives. If you asked me five years ago about it, I would have said you’re probably crazy. It’s just fun, there’s no other way to describe it really.
Q: Did you have a chip on your shoulder being so lightly recruited out of Christian Brothers Academy, N.J.?
A: For sure. I think it’s easier for me to have a chip on my shoulder now about it. I was so happy that I got to go to Rutgers when I first got recruited by them because I didn’t earn all the high praise or anything. I was local, and I played Pro-Ams and state Opens and that was about it. But Rutgers was the best fit for me at the time. I wouldn’t be here without Rutgers and Coach [Rob Shutte]. I try to give back to them as much as they’ve given to me.
I think when I transferred [to Oklahoma] I had a chip on my shoulder. Some people still didn’t give me the time of day when I was transferring, but [Ryan] Hybl at OU, he believed in me, and I believed in him and the team. I think now, more so when I’m out here, there’s only a few guys from the northeast, and I’ve gotten friendly with Keegan [Bradley] — we’ve bounced stuff back and forth off each other — I’ve asked him a bunch of questions and he’s kind of helped me. I think he’s been a great model of being someone that’s very good at golf, and probably a little underlooked just being from the northeast and kind of embracing that, you know — he’s not from Florida, he’s not from Texas, he’s not from California, like, I’ve made it this far on my own. I think I can kind of take some of that as well.
Q: Favorite Rutgers memory?
A: Honestly my favorite part has just been all of my friends that I made from the team, and we still meet up all the time, whether it’s in the city or we do a guys’ trip … just the camaraderie that we still have. I think it speaks to the school and it speaks to the teams that we had. Even though we didn’t win a Big Ten championship or national championship, we’re still super tight, all of our wives and girlfriends are friends.
Q: Favorite Oklahoma memory?
A: We played great as a team the whole year. We’d celebrate at Waffle House in the morning when we came back the next day. It’s such a one-sided sport where everything’s you-you-you. And to have those moments was special.
Q: Can you describe your relationship with your coach, Jason Birnbaum?
A: He’s been my right-hand man in all of this, and he’s been a great sounding board and someone that I trust with my life on the course and off the course. What I like about him is he’s not afraid to tell me, “Hey, you’re acting like a baby,” but he’s also the first person to be like, “You’re on it, just stay on it.” But I also respect him as a person and a coach where I think a lot of guys — we’ve been together for 12 years, 13 years — I’ve had times where I’m like, “I don’t agree with anything you’re saying,” or we are not on the same page, and he’ll be like, “All right, let’s go see someone else and get some ideas from him.” I think a lot of people, I don’t think they can put their ego aside and do that. … He’s been the No. 1 reason why I’ve gotten as far as I have.
Q: Tell me about your caddie, Brady Stockton?
A: Brady’s been on my bag since Dominican Republic last year. The caddie is basically someone that you’re gonna spend more time with than your family. I spend almost more time with Brady than my girlfriend on the road. He’s been great, he doesn’t get too high, he doesn’t get too low. If we have a bad week he’s like, “All right, on to the next one, let’s flush it, let’s go.” But he also keeps me cool when things are going well. I think we just kind of vibe together pretty well. We have good communication. He understands my game. He played at Arizona State at a high level, he is not gonna impose his will on what I’m doing unless he thinks it’s necessary, and he kind of molds his caddying into how I play.
Q: How good of a lacrosse player were you?
A: Obviously not good enough that I played golf. I felt like I was pretty good. I definitely am not the fastest, and not the quickest, but I had a good shot. I think it helped me just interact with people better, and it probably made me a little tougher after getting a couple of concussions and hit with the stick in the arms the whole time — golf, you don’t take as much of a beating.
Q: Favorite golfer growing up?
A: Tiger [Woods] made golf cool. I don’t remember having a favorite golfer per se, but I remember going to the PGA at Baltusrol and I watched J.B. Holmes hit this drive, and it was like the first time I ever saw someone that wasn’t my dad or someone that was a legit pro hit a drive where it was like, “Holy s–t, I’ve never seen anything like that before,” and it just went 340 dead straight.
I’ve always admired in golf and other sports something that I know I can’t do at the time, and watching it and witnessing it in person is cool. I just remember watching Bubba Watson hook these wedges, the wedge shot at the Masters — no one on Earth can probably hit that shot but him, and just appreciating how hard it is to do that. And I think that’s why golf is cool in that respect, too.
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: I’ll put together a foursome for you that I’d like to play golf with. I actually played with Jack Hughes the other day, which was awesome. I’d like to spend 18 with [Jalen] Brunson. I’d like to meet [Roger] Federer, I’ve gotten into tennis and I appreciate the tennis guys.
Q: Favorite movie?
A: “Interstellar.”
Q: Favorite entertainer?
A: Tiesto.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: Chicken vodka wrap at Gianni’s [in Little Silver, N.J.]
Q: Is the Ryder Cup one of your career goals?
A: Yeah, for sure. Especially after last year where I was in the mix but not totally in the mix. I think getting close and feeling it a little bit kind of has sparked a hunger in me to get there. That’s a marathon, where it’s two years worth of hard work, and hopefully I can kind of continue to keep up what I’m doing and hopefully be there at some point.
Q: You’re a Knicks fan?
A: We were in the city last week and it felt like you were at a college campus with everyone just wearing Knicks gear.
Q: What does Father’s Day mean to you?
A: My dad [Morten] has been No. 1 supporter of my journey, and he’s also been the first person to be honest with me. … He got me into the game, and it’s fun now to be able to go home and play. We played nine holes the other night after work. I took 60 bucks off him the other night. He still gets stressed when he’s out there watching me. He’ll be there to tell me when I need to be told something. … Father’s Day is his day, and hopefully we can give him a good Father’s Day.