(Photo credit score: Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK through Imagn Images)
Chris Gotterup posted birdie on the primary playoff gap to win the WM Phoenix Open after late mishaps by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama opened the door for him Sunday at TPC Scottsdale’s Stadium Course in Arizona.
Gotterup, 26, notched his second victory of 2026 and the fourth of his younger profession. He shot a 7-under-par 64 and waited for an opportunity in a playoff.
Gotterup and Matsuyama ended up at 16-under 268 on a day when world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler made a powerful transfer towards the highest and created appreciable buzz.
Gotterup, who additionally received final month’s season-opening Sony Open in Hawaii, posted birdies on 5 of the ultimate six holes within the final spherical. The final of these got here after he recovered from a wayward tee shot.
To finish the fourth spherical, Matsuyama’s erratic driving lastly value him. His tee shot on the 18th gap ended up in a bunker and his quest to scramble for par failed when he was off the mark on a 24-foot putt. He took his lone bogey of the spherical.
Then Matsuyama’s tee shot on the playoff gap landed within the water alongside the green. Gotterup performed it regular and recorded one other birdie to seal the deal.
Two of Matsuyama’s 11 victories on the PGA Tour have come on this match. He additionally received in 2016 and 2017, however he could not end the hunt this time.
Matsuyama carried a one-shot lead on countryman Ryo Hisatsune into the ultimate spherical.
Matsuyama was attempting to win a fourth PGA Tour occasion in a 24-month interval. This marked the sixth time that Matsuyama has been the outright chief by 54 holes on the PGA Tour, and he had received every of the earlier 5 occasions.
Scheffler, who started his season two weeks earlier by profitable The American Express, grew to become the most important story of the day for a lot of the spherical. He was inside one shot of the lead by 15 holes, although he was taking part in a number of teams forward of the final threesome. He completed with 64.
Michael Thorbjornsen (67), Akshay Bhatia (67), South Korea’s Si Woo Kim (68) and Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard (68) shared third place with Scheffler at 15 underneath.
Scheffler performed the entrance facet in 3 underneath after which strung collectively three extra birdies on Nos. 13-15. That included sinking a shot from the perimeter about 72 toes away on the par-4 14th. He additionally birdied No. 17.
With Scheffler’s spherical full, Thorbjornsen briefly catapulted into the lead with an 11-foot eagle putt on No. 15. He gave a type of strokes again with a bogey on the following gap after launching his tee shot past the inexperienced on the par-3 gap.
Thorbjornsen, a 24-year-old in search of his first PGA Tour triumph, settled for his seventh end within the prime 5. Hojgaard can also be 24 and with no tour victory.
China’s Zecheng Dou had the day’s finest spherical with 63, transferring him to 11 underneath and tied for thirteenth.
–Field Level Media