American Chris Gotterup started the day four strokes behind the lead at the WM Phoenix Open and made nine birdies and two bogeys for a 7-under 64 to reach the top of the leaderboard at 16-under.

Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama held the lead after 54 holes and bogeyed the final hole to sign for a 68 and join Gotterup in a playoff.

Matsuyama’s tee shot found the water at the first extra hole while Gotterup made a birdie for his fourth PGA Tour title in his 71st start at the age of 26.

Gotterup, the current FedEx Cup leader, had already won at the season opener in Hawaii making this his third win in his last ten starts.

64 ties his low final-round score on Tour (2026 Sony Open in Hawaii/Won, 2025 CJ Cup Byron Nelson/T15). He birdied five of his last six holes (Nos. 13-15, 17-18) to make this his second come-from-behind victory (2026 Sony Open in Hawaii/trailed by 2).

Nine birdies ties his career-high in a round on Tour (2025 Genesis Scottish Open/R2/Won).

“I went in with a chance for sure to start the day. Today I really wasn’t expecting to be — I would have had to go shoot a really good round, which I did, but even during the back nine, I was like, all right, just keep climbing the board, try to get into a good spot,” said Gotterup.

“I knew I needed to birdie 18, and I had some, let’s say, maybe a little luck involved in that shot, but to come out on top and do it the way I did in the playoff was awesome.

“I hit it into the grandstands pretty much. I was in the right rough, and I was up against the grandstand and then got a decent lie in the trampled down grass. I had like 120-something yards and just trying to hit it on the green, and for it to land perfectly on the green and roll up to three feet was definitely some luck involved for sure. You don’t get those all the time.

“I’ve seen countless putts on this 18th hole in playoffs or normal events go in, and to be added to that is pretty cool.”

Matsuyama falls to 5-for-6 when holding the outright 54-hole lead on Tour. He was seeking to become the fifth player with
three victories at the WM Phoenix Open, with his previous two titles (2016/2017) coming in playoffs.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler of the United States started the tournament slowly with a first round 73 but slowly crept up the leaderboard before finishing with a bogey-free 64 and a share of third place at 15-under for his 17th consecutive top-10 on Tour, the first player since Billy Casper in 1965 to accomplish the feat.

Korean Si Woo Kim’s bogey-free 68 gave him a third consecutive top-10 finish (T3) for the first time in his career in 304 starts (T6/The American Express, T2/Farmers Insurance Open, T3/WM Phoenix Open). He is one of two players to finish inside the top-20 in all four events to start the 2026 season (other: Pierceson Coody).

Americans Akshay Bhatia (1 bogey/67) and Michael Thorbjornsen (one eagle at the par-5 15th, two bogeys/67) also finished in third place as did Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard who eagled the par-5 13th but also suffered from a triple bogey at the par-4 2nd for a 68.

Aon Swing 5

The WM Phoenix Open was the final opportunity for players to earn FedExCup points towards the Aon Swing 5 to gain entry
into each of the next two Signature Events (AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, The Genesis Invitational).

The top five players, not otherwise exempt, who earned the most FedExCup points during the Sony Open in Hawaii, The American Express, Farmers Insurance Open and the WM Phoenix Open qualified for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.

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