Rory McIlroy's Gesture at Scottish Open Left Winner 'Amazed'
Chris Gotterup will hardly forget those two weeks in July 2025 that he spent playing in Scotland and Northern Ireland. And no wonder: The relatively unknown player with little to no experience in links golf ended up winning the Scottish Open and finishing third in his Open Championship debut.
No less memorable was the $3.8 million he banked in less than 10 days. However, the chance to play the final round at The Renaissance with Rory McIlroy stands out, and not just because he played alongside one of the greatest players in the history of golf.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Chris Gotterup of the United States prepare to putt on the 12th green on day four of the Genesis Scottish Open 2025 at The Renaissance Club on July 13,...
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Chris Gotterup of the United States prepare to putt on the 12th green on day four of the Genesis Scottish Open 2025 at The Renaissance Club on July 13, 2025 in North Berwick, Scotland. MoreGotterup told the popular podcast "Fore Play" about McIlroy's attitude when the crowd began to ignite in support of the Northern Irishman. According to the eventual winner, he was deeply impressed by the five-time major winner's behavior.
"The crowd started getting very hostile," Gotterup recalled on the podcast, "once they realized 'this is happening'. And I will say to Rory's credit, he was very aware of what was happening and he had his security guard telling people to cut it out, which is cool because he's trying to win the tournament too.
"But he's also aware of what's going on. And I know it's extra crazy over there with him, especially coming off a Grand Slam, but it always amazes me that those guys play so good, week in, week out with all that going on."
Gotterup added that McIlroy even went so far as to take matters into his own hands with one fan who had crossed the line.
"There were a couple of guys that were yelling, 'You're going to three-putt,' and 'Watch out for the pot bunkers,' and stuff," Gotterup said, as seen in a YouTube video of the episode. "And then there was one on 18, this kid yelled like, 'I hope you choke so Rory can win,' or whatever, and Rory told him to shut up which was ... we were laughing about it walking down 18, because no matter where you go in the world, there's always idiots yelling in the crowd. It didn't matter where you were but it was funny. Going into the day I totally expected that."
McIlroy finished tied for second at the Scottish Open with a score of 13-under, two strokes behind Gotterup. A week later, at Royal Portrush, the Northern Irishman (T7) again finished behind the American (third).
This was Gotterup's second career victory, having entered the PGA Tour winner's circle at the 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic.
McIlroy, meanwhile, completed golf's Career Grand Slam this season by winning the Masters Tournament. He is only the sixth player in the modern era to achieve such a feat.
More Golf: Why Did Sepp Straka Withdraw From BMW Championship Amid Ryder Cup Push?
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San Francisco Chronicle
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Today in Sports - Week Ahead, August 15
Aug. 15 1948 — Babe Didrikson Zaharias wins the U.S. Women's Open golf title over Betty Hicks. 1950 — Ezzard Charles knocks out Freddie Beshore in the 14th round to retain his world heavyweight title. 1965 — Dave Marr edges Jack Nicklaus and Billy Casper to take the PGA Championship. 1966 — Jose Torres retains his world light-heavyweight title with a unanimous decision over Eddie Cotton in Las Vegas. 1993 — Greg Norman lips his putt on the PGA Championship's second playoff hole, giving Paul Azinger the title and leaving Norman with an unprecedented career of Grand Slam playoff losses. Norman, despite winning his second British Open title a month earlier, has lost playoffs in three other majors — 1984 U.S. Open, 1987 Masters, 1989 British Open. 1993 — Damon Hill, son of the late Graham Hill, becomes the first father-son Formula One winners when he takes the Hungarian Grand Prix. 1995 — Monica Seles returns to the WTA Tour after a 28-month absence following her 1993 stabbing with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Kimberly Po at the Canadian Open. 1999 — Tiger Woods makes a par save on the 17th hole and holds on to win the PGA Championship by one stroke over 19-year-old Sergio Garcia. Woods, 23, becomes the youngest player to win two majors since Seve Ballesteros in 1980. 2004 — In Athens, Greece, the U.S. men's basketball team loses 92-73 to Puerto Rico, the third Olympic defeat for the Americans and first since adding pros. American teams had been 24-0 since the professional Olympic era began with the 1992 Dream Team. The U.S Olympic team's record was 109-2, entering the game. 2005 — Phil Mickelson delivers another dramatic finish in a major, flopping a chip out of deep rough to 2 feet for a birdie on the final hole and a one-shot victory in the PGA Championship. 2007 — Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy pleads guilty to felony charges for taking cash payoffs from gamblers and betting on games he officiated in a scandal that rocked the league and raised questions about the integrity of the sport. 2010 — Martin Kaymer wins the PGA Championship in a three-hole playoff against Bubba Watson. Dustin Johnson, with a one-shot lead playing the final hole at Whistling Straits, is penalized two strokes for grounding his club in a bunker on the last hole. The two-shot penalty sends him into a tie for fifth. 2012 — Felix Hernandez pitches the Seattle Mariners' first perfect game and the 23rd in baseball history, overpowering the Tampa Bay Rays in a brilliant 1-0 victory. It's the third perfect game in baseball this season. 2012 — The U.S. breaks a 75-year winless streak at Azteca Stadium with an 80th-minute goal by Michael Orozco Fiscal and Tim Howard's late sprawling saves in a 1-0 victory over Mexico. 2014 — Mo'Ne Davis, one of two girls at the Little League World Series, throws a two-hitter to help Philadelphia beat Nashville 4-0 in the opener for both teams. Davis, the first girl to appear for a U.S. team in South Williamsport since 2004, has eight strikeouts and no walks. _____ Aug. 16 1920 — Cleveland shortstop Ray Chapman is hit in the head with a pitch by New York's Carl Mays. Chapman suffers a fractured skull and dies the next day. It's the only field fatality in major league history. 1924 — Helen Wills Moody beats Molla Bjurstedt Mallory again, 6-1, 6-3, to win her second straight singles title at the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association championships. 1954 — The first Sports Illustrated magazine is issued with a 25-cent price tag. The scene on the cover was a game at Milwaukee's County Stadium. Eddie Mathews of Braves was swinging with Wes Westrum catching and Augie Donatelli umpiring. 1970 — Dave Stockton wins the PGA Championship by two strokes over Arnold Palmer and Bob Murphy at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. 1976 — Dave Stockton edges Raymond Floyd and Don January by one stroke to win his second PGA Championship. Stockton hits a par-saving 15-foot putt on the 72nd hole to finish with a 1-over 281 at Congressional Country Club (Blue Course) in Bethesda, Md. 1989 — Tom Drees pitches his third no-hitter of the season for Class AAA Vancouver, leading the Canadians over Las Vegas 5-0 in a seven-inning, first game of a doubleheader in the Pacific Coast League. Drees became the first pitcher in the PCL or the major leagues with three no-hitters in a year. 1992 — Nick Price holds off a comeback bid by Nick Faldo with a 1-under 70 in the final round and captures his first major title with a three-stroke victory in the PGA national championship. 1995 — Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie shatters Kenya's Moses Kiptanui's record in the 5,000 by nearly 11 seconds with a time of 12 minutes, 44.39 seconds at the Weltklasse meet in Zurich, Switzerland. 1998 — Jeff Gordon drives into the record book, becoming the seventh driver in modern NASCAR history to win four straight races as he comes from far back to take the Pepsi 400. 2003 — Cristiano Ronaldo (18) makes his debut for Manchester United and the Premier League in a 4–0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. 2008 — In Beijing, Michael Phelps touches the wall a hundredth of a second ahead of Serbia's Milorad Cavic to win the 100-meter butterfly. The win gives Phelps his seventh gold medal of the Beijing Games, tying Mark Spitz's performance in the 1972 Munich Games. Usain Bolt of Jamaica runs the 100-meter dash in a stunning world-record time of 9.69 seconds for a blowout win that he starts celebrating a good 10 strides before the finish line. 2009 — Usain Bolt shatters the 100-meter world record at the World Championships in Berlin. Bolt finishes with a stunning time of 9.58 seconds, bettering his own record of 9.69 seconds set in last year's Beijing Olympics. 2009 — Y.E. Yang of South Korea becomes the first Asian player to win one of golf's majors with a three-stroke win over Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship. 2015 — Jason Day leads wire-to-wire in the final round at Whistling Straits to close out a record-setting PGA Championship and capture his first major title. The 27-year-old Australian finishes at 20-under 268 to beat Jordan Spieth by three shots. Day becomes the first player to finish at 20 under in a major. 2015 — Brooke Henderson wins the Cambia Portland Classic by eight strokes to become the third-youngest champion in LPGA Tour history at 17 years, 11 months, 6 days. 2018 — The Davis Cup gets a radical makeover beginning in 2019. The top team event in men's tennis will be decided with a season-ending, 18-team tournament at a neutral site. _____ Aug. 17 1933 — Lou Gehrig of the New York Yankees plays his 1,308th straight game to break Everett Scott's record of 1,307. 1938 — Henry Armstrong wins the lightweight title with a 15-round decision over Lou Ambers and becomes the only boxer to hold world championship titles in three weight divisions simultaneously. Armstrong won the featherweight (126-pound) title by knocking out Petey Sarron in six rounds on Oct. 29, 1937. On May 31, 1938, he won the welterweight (147-pound) championship from Barney Ross by a decision. 1960 — Flash Elorde knocks out Harold Gomes at 1:20 in the first round to win the world junior lightweight title. 1969 — Ray Floyd beats Gary Player by one stroke to win the PGA championship. 1995 — John Roethlisberger wins the U.S. National Gymnastics Championships' all-around title in New Orleans, becoming the first gymnast in 28 years to win four titles. 1997 — Davis Love III shoots a 66 at Winged Foot to win the PGA Championship in Mamaroneck, N.Y., his first major title, by five strokes over Justin Leonard with a 72-hole total of 11-under 269. 2001 — Shingo Katayama shoots a 6-under 64, and David Toms shoots a 65 to share the second-round lead in the PGA Championship. Katayama and Toms at 9-under 131, tie the PGA record for 36 holes last set by Ernie Els at Riviera in 1995. 2005 — The NCAA purchases the rights to the preseason and postseason National Invitation Tournaments as part of a settlement ending a four-year legal fight between the two parties. The 40-team postseason NIT, which is a year older and was once the bigger event, will be run by the NCAA. 2008 — At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Michael Phelps and three teammates win the 400-meter medley relay for Phelps' eighth gold medal, eclipsing Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at the 1972 Munich Games. Of his five individual races and three relays, Phelps sets world records in seven and an Olympic record in the eighth. 2008 — Jesus Sauceda of Matamoros, Mexico, pitches the fifth perfect game in Little League World Series history and the first in 29 years for a 12-0 win over Emilia, Italy. 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In April of 1993, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf were dueling for supremacy at the top of women's tennis. Graf had won eight out of the nine Grand Slam tournaments played between 1988 and early 1990, before Seles burst onto the women's tour and won eight of the next twelve. Their titles and their rivalry catapulted them into stardom — and danger. Advertisement At an event in Hamburg, Günter Parche, a fan fixated on Graf, ran onto the court during a changeover as Seles played Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria. He stabbed Seles between the shoulder blades before being restrained. The physical and emotional toll kept Seles away from competitive tennis for over two years, and Seles, who looked predestined to win dozens of major titles, would win just one more in her career. Graf would win 22. That infamous moment stands out in tennis history, but it is also part of a pattern. A couple of years earlier, at the French Open, Graf's father punched James Levee, a wealthy man who had lavished gifts on a teenage Graf and then switched his attention to Seles, also a teenager. In 1990, another fan slit his wrists in front of Graf, while another broke into her home shortly after Seles' stabbing. Martina Hingis, Anna Kournikova and the Williams sisters — all high-profile players or rising phenoms — reported encounters with fixated people around the turn of the century; Grand Slam champions Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki did so in the early 2000s. Three decades on from Hamburg in 1993, modern stars of the sport are experiencing more of the same. In February, at the Dubai Tennis Championships, Emma Raducanu broke down in tears mid-match after spotting a man who had given her a letter and asked for a photo the previous day. She'd noticed him at a number of her previous events as well. 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Players' match schedules and practice schedules are posted online and at events, making themselves easy to find in less guarded moments, with fewer people around than would be in a stadium for a match. And even at the biggest venues in the sport, courtside seating lets fans get very close to players, and they walk from place to place largely in public view. Pam Shriver, who was president of the WTA player council at the time Seles was stabbed, recalled the impact the incident had on the wider tennis world. Advertisement 'What happened with Monica was so tragic and devastating that it forced change. We all became more aware to report any kind of behaviour that seemed obsessive, fanatical or threatening,' she said. 'Look, if you don't feel safe, you can't perform to the best of your ability.' Less than a third (29 percent) of stalking victims reported their situations to police in 2019, according to a study published by the U.S. Department of Justice. For myriad reasons, victims often choose to endure without alerting law enforcement or going public with their ordeal. Tennis players became more accustomed to speaking up in the wake of the Seles incident, and that may be the clearest reason women's tennis continues to be at the forefront of the issue. Its athletes are reporting problems and raising awareness at a higher rate than those in other sports. Raducanu has talked openly about her recent incident and one three years ago, when a 35-year-old man, Amrit Magar, was given a five-year restraining order after he walked 23 miles to her family home. She told reporters that 'in England it's pretty difficult for me to go out and about. Sometimes I've had neck pain from looking at the floor so much with a cap on.' In an interview with The Athletic, Collins said that the measures she took after her experiences with fixated individuals affected fans' perception of her. 'I really wanted my privacy for a long time after that,' she said, explaining that her decision to keep a low profile led some people to perceive her as cold or distant. Australian Open champion Madison Keys said in an interview in April that 'a handful of cases' at home had affected her everyday life, while world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka described asking for additional security at some events. And though it is largely women who are affected, male stars of the sport experience the impact of tennis' ripe conditions for parasocial relationships. Carlos Alcaraz, one of the most-trailed players in the sport, said in a news conference in June that while he feels safe at tournaments, he has felt uneasy on the streets among fans. 'There are some situations that I felt weird, let's say,' he said. As patterns of fixated behavior have changed, so too have the security measures that players and tournaments take. Those measures, while imperfect, have helped the sport identify and deal with problematic individuals. 'When we think about when my generation played, you had maybe a coach and an agent,' Seles told The Athletic. 'I didn't have six people in my box, so they have that extra layer of, I think, security.' Advertisement In 2023, the WTA organization appointed Lindsay Brandon as its first dedicated director of safeguarding. The WTA, alongside the International Tennis Federation, the All England Club that operates Wimbledon, and the United States Tennis Association launched Threat Matrix. Developed by Signify Group, an AI firm, and supported by fixated threat specialists Theseus Risk Management and risk mitigation company Quest, the program monitors players' public social media accounts for abusive or threatening content. In its first full-year report released in June, it revealed that 15 cases had to be escalated to law enforcement. But how much dedicated security they can provide varies among events. The four Grand Slams — Wimbledon and the Australian, French and U.S. Opens — partner with the tours and outside firms to manage security, while at smaller events, players might walk around sites with only their coaches for company. In the immediate aftermath of Parche's attack on Seles, tennis became more vigilant about security in a physical sense. Players' chairs were moved farther from stands and guards stood on courts during changeovers. But fans can still get incredibly close to players at events of all sizes — especially in the early rounds of Grand Slam tournaments, when the volume of matches puts some of the biggest stars in the sport on courts more akin to those at a small community club. Czech men's player Jiří Lehečka said he felt unsafe at the French Open during a match in May. Fans in the front row for his second-round match against Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Court 13 were so close that they were pinching his towels at the end of the match. 'I think it's unacceptable,' he told reporters in June. 'It's not about the towel, it's about that they have access to our personal things. I don't really think that this should happen.' The French Tennis Federation did not respond when asked about the incident. Advertisement As Świątek found out, online abuse can also move into the physical world, where the diffusion of resources again takes over. A tournament like Wimbledon can work with national police, terrorism, and security authorities, along with the tennis tours' additional protocols. It has behavioral detection experts on hand to identify potential risks from fixated individuals, 24/7 closed-circuit television and foot and dog patrols. Smaller tournaments, further down the tennis ladder, do not have the resources to employ these kinds of failsafes — and even larger events have seen incidents slip through. The Dubai Tennis Championships, at which Raducanu was targeted, is a WTA 1,000 event, one tier below a Grand Slam. Ryan Trudgeon, a freelance close protection officer in the entertainment and sports world, remembers the job spec for the ATP Tour Finals at the O2 in London. He escorted players from their hotel to the venue, taking transport on a private boat and the London public transport system. 'You'd recce all the sites you're going to well in advance so that you know exactly where you're going,' Trudgeon said. 'It's all about situational awareness. Even if you're in a safe place, there's always a chance someone has bad intentions. If something feels off, it probably is.' The real challenge comes during a live match. 'You can't remove the principal mid-match,' Trudgeon said. 'Elsewhere, you could simply move them or investigate a suspicious person. Whatever the situation, it's a case of always being dynamic.' WTA chief executive Portia Archer said in a phone interview in March: 'Keeping our environment safe is an important priority for us. It's something we take very seriously.' But the sport cannot eliminate the characteristics that attract behaviors that tip from fandom into fixation without eradicating the essential nature that makes it one of the most captivating in the world. Advertisement 'The knowledge out there is so much more. I mean, what happened to me has never happened before and knock on wood never will happen again,' Seles said. 'It hasn't happened in 30 years, so I hope never will.' (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; photos: Bill Kostroun / Associated Press; Julien De Rosa, Mike Hewitt/ Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
