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Chris Gotterup has responded to being asked whether the setup at Aronimink has been fair over the first two days of the PGA Championship.
Gotterup stole the show during the early wave on Friday in Philadelphia. The 26-year-old posted the lowest score of the tournament so far with his 65 to move to three under par for the week.
Aronimink has certainly silenced anyone who expected major championship scoring records to be broken this week.
As the players went out for the afternoon session on the second day of the PGA Championship, the leaders were on four under par.
Meanwhile, it looked highly likely that less than 10 shots would separate all of those who made the cut heading into the weekend.
Chris Gotterup says whether Aronimink has been a fair test
Aronimink has been a superb test so far, particularly for the spectator. But pace of play has been an issue, with groups taking well over five hours to complete their rounds.
The course setup and conditions have played their part in that. And after his second round, Gotterup was asked whether he felt that Aronimink had been fair after there had been some complaints from players.
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“I’m going to try to answer this properly. I don’t think it’s unfair, but I do think for pace of play and certain aspects, 14 today is probably aggressive, I will say. You’re hitting a four iron to a 10-foot circle, and if it doesn’t go there, it’s off the green, and if you hit it 40 feet left, you have a very hard two-putt.
“So, you know, Bob made birdie in my group and he hit a great shot. So is it unfair, probably not. But is it going to make the round slow, yeah. Yesterday I think hole eight was probably pushing it a little bit. I hit five wood yesterday, and I hit seven iron today. Granted, I don’t know if they were expecting 30 mile an hour winds yesterday, but I also did shoot five-under today.
“So I don’t think it’s unfair by any stretch of the imagination, but you’re not going to get any four and a half hour rounds out here if that’s what they, if that’s what’s going to happen. So, unfair, no, but, you know, tough to make birdies.”
Gotterup compares the PGA Championship setup to a regular tour event
It does seem to be extremely rare for the score leading the way to be so close to level par these days. It has been a criticism of both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf that their tournaments do seem to often be decided by who makes the most birdies.
Gotterup – who has already won twice on the PGA Tour this year – was asked whether he is used to playing in tournaments where the pin positions are so regularly put in tricky spots.
“On tour they do a good job, I mean good being relative, but a good job of putting it in tough spots, where a grain changes, and as a player you don’t think it’s good because it’s tough, but it’s probably good for scoring,” he said.
“I think this week is definitely an extreme in that department, more so with the wind. I think if it wasn’t blowing 20 miles an hour, I think there would be a lot more birdies. But every hole today for the most part, there were some on front that were reasonable and you can make birdie, like hole seven was relatively easy. Nine was relatively friendly.
“But a lot of the holes feel like they are, like with the wind, you have no margin for error. 12 today was four paces on the green and a shelf, and it’s straight downwind. I mean, no one’s going to try to skip it up there and stop it on the shelf. You’re just going to have 25 feet, which is fine, it’s not unfair, but you’re not going to see a lot of shots that are hitting next to the spin and spinning back there.”
It is hard to imagine that anyone is going to better the 65 that Gotterup posted on Friday morning.
He has proven that he is capable of standing out in difficult conditions. Few will forget the quality of his performance at the Scottish Open last year, particularly as he went head-to-head with Rory McIlroy.
And he suggested what he tries to focus on when the conditions are windier and the golf course is ready to ask a number of difficult questions.
“Yeah, I think there’s a certain aspect of creativity that’s needed. 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.
“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better since turning pro at being okay 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.
“When you’re hitting four iron from 190 out here and you’re trying to cut it 20 yards to try to hold it up against the wind, it’s something that I’ve gotten used to playing in more wind, and, yeah, it doesn’t make it any easier to execute, but you’ve got to be in the moment to hit those shots, and I’ve been in a couple of those and hit it. So hopefully keep doing that.”
Gotterup is going to be extremely tough to beat if the conditions remain a key factor this week.
He has sent out a strong message to all of his rivals with his performance on Friday.
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