Brooks Koepka comparison surfaces after Chris Gotterup wins the WM Phoenix Open

He is quickly establishing himself as one of the sport’s top competitors. With that in mind, Smylie Kaufman said on The Smylie Show that Gotterup is starting to remind him of Brooks Koepka.

“I think it’s worth pointing out that the first time he played with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler was, so Rory was that Sunday at the Scottish Open, he goes and shoots 66 and wins by two. And then the first time he goes and plays with Scottie Scheffler, he goes out and shoots a bogey free 63, beats him by 10,” he said.

“I think that side of it for me, the confidence and the mental aspect and just his overall confidence that he plays with, I think is the most growth that I’ve seen for a player that we all want to see take that next step. He’s answered the bell right away. Sometimes it takes guys 10 attempts to be finally comfortable playing against the world’s best. But he doesn’t care. He’s like, ‘dude, this is what I’ve got. I’m going to go out and do my best. I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself’. And I think that’s the jump that we’ve seen early in his career to now

“Sure, he’s probably gotten better in different aspects of his game, but that to me is the huge thing that Chris has right now that so many players are trying to get which is playing with freedom, confidence, and growing in the mental side of the game. It just reminds me so much of a Brooks Koepka type.”

More parallels are being drawn between Chris Gotterup and Brooks Koepka

There are a number of similarities between Gotterup and Koepka, including the brand of clothing they wear on the golf course.

He also has impressive distance off the tee, and much like Koepka, he becomes tough to beat when his putter is working.

By the time he reached the 13th hole at TPC Scottsdale on Sunday, Gotterup felt more like an outsider. He was well behind the leaders and quickly running out of time.

But that’s when he found another gear – one that not every player on Tour seems to have in their bag. His ability to turn it on late made all the difference.