Chris Gotterup finds 'crazy' golf to his liking as he wins duel in the sun with Rory McIlroy

After shooting the lights out with a stunning round of 61 on Friday to equal the course record at The Renaissance, Chris Gotterup let it be known that he was pretty much a novice when it came to links golf.

‘I am not an experienced links player by any means,’ said the big-hitting American. ‘It’s all still pretty new to me. So it was great to get out and play North Berwick earlier this week on Tuesday.

‘I am still learning how to play links golf, and how to play all these weird shots that you would never play back home in the States. It’s a lot of fun.

‘I had never had to hit over a wall in the middle of the fairway before until I played North Berwick. It’s really cool, very wacky. If someone tried to design a course like that back home, they’d get killed...’

As it turned out, that tune-up along the road at North Berwick proved to be just the ticket. By the end of the week, this American had earned his stars and stripes.

Gotterup shot 66 on the final day to win the Genesis Scottish Open, going toe-to-toe with Rory McIlroy down the stretch and duly getting the better of the Masters champion. No mean feat in itself.

In the end, Gotterup won by two shots, seeing off the challenge of McIlroy and Marco Penge among several others who threatened to get close to the lead at various points.

To post that kind of score on a Sunday, whilst seeing off a player of McIlroy’s calibre, made Gotterup a very worthy champion.

Few could dispute the quality of his golf, particularly after he had steadied the ship and recovered from a slightly nervy start.

In collecting the winner’s cheque for around £1.2million, this is by far and away the biggest victory of his career, surpassing his breakthrough win on the PGA Tour last year at the Myrtle Beach Classic.

There is also the not-so-insignificant bonus of earning himself a place in this week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Gotterup had been due to fly back to America to play in the Barracuda Championship this week in California, but those flights were hastily cancelled after this victory.

As the champagne corks popped here in East Lothian, he was only too happy to make alternative arrangements for an impromptu trip across the Irish Sea.

The day had started with Gotterup and McIlroy out in front and tied for the lead on 11-under. With another record sold-out crowd in attendance, it promised to be a thrilling final day.

At the end of a scorching week of weather, the galleries were looking forward to seeing whether McIlroy could finish the job and win this tournament for a second time. But, truthfully, he never really found his rhythm.

After bogeying the par-five third, McIlroy reeled off three birdies in his next five holes to reach the turn locked together with Gotterup on 13-under par.

But McIlroy never really looked fully in tune with his game. He was holing some decent putts, though quite a few of them were for pars as well as birdies.

He never managed a single birdie on his back nine, with Gotterup’s surge to victory starting with a stroke gained at the 10th. Perhaps the turning point was the par-three 12th.

Both players hit it close and had short putts for birdie. Gotterup holed his whilst McIlroy missed. In the blink of an eye, the American had a two-shot lead.

Indeed, it would have been a three-shot cushion had he not missed a relatively short putt on the 14th. Yet, still, it was a relatively stress-free road to victory over the final few holes.

The main problem actually came via a warning from the officials for slow play, something which Gotterup was not happy with and felt was undeserved.

The only other slight drama came when Gotterup bogeyed the 15th, but he bounced back immediately with a birdie at the next hole to re-establish his authority at the top of the leaderboard.

It was a lead he would not surrender, with the 25-year-old later laughing at the fact much of the crowd viewed him as the villain in the battle with McIlroy.

‘Chris played a great round of golf, he was so solid,’ acknowledged a gracious McIlroy. ‘It was difficult to get too aggressive in the final few holes because it was starting to get quite windy.

‘I gave myself some chances down the stretch. But after he got a couple of shots ahead, I just couldn’t claw it back.

‘But it’s been a great week. I’m really happy with where my game is; the way I played over the weekend; the shots I hit.

‘I am happy with how I controlled my ball flight. It has been a great week. Missing the trophy, that’s about it.

‘I feel like my game got better each day and I was able to get what I wanted out of the week. I’ll move on to Portrush now and turn my attention to that.’

The positive for McIlroy as he heads back to Northern Ireland is that he has certainly blown off the cobwebs over the past four days in Scotland and seems to have found his hunger for the game once more after his post-Augusta lull.

Matt Fitzpatrick looked like one of the players who might mount a challenge yesterday, the Englishman draining a long putt for eagle on the 10th to move within a shot and following up with a birdie on the 11th.

But a dropped shot on his next hole stopped Fitzpatrick’s challenge dead in its tracks and he was unable to make any further inroads.

It was Justin Rose who carded the lowest round of the final day after firing a magnificent 63 to ensure a Sunday surge up the leaderboard.

Rose’s card was blemish-free, with seven birdies seeing the veteran Englishman eventually finish on 11-under and in sixth place.

‘That’s maybe about as clean a round as I’ve played all year to be honest with you,’ said Rose.

‘People think about the Masters (when he lost to McIlroy in a play-off) but there were a few bogeys in there.

‘Whereas today was seven birdies. It was just a very, very clean round of golf and builds some nice confidence and momentum heading to Portrush.’

Along with Gotterup, it was Matti Schmid and Nicolai Hojgaard who secured the other two places on offer for the Open Championship.