Chris Gotterup left the Genesis Scottish Open 12 months ago with a trophy and a sizeable cheque.
Statistics show that the 26-year-old American had only won once on the PGA Tour before touching down at The Renaissance Club.
Since then, his career has blossomed, so has his bank balance.
The Maryland-born golfer is now a five-time winner on the tour and banked another big cheque when he won the TPC Deere Run last weekend, an event with an $8.8m prize fund.
He was five shots back entering the final round in the John Deere-backed event, but a nine-under final round took him to minus 20 for the four rounds.
The ex-Rutgers University student is now in the world’s top ten.
So, he returns to East Lothian in fine form and looking to defend the coveted Scottish Open title.
Can he do just that? Four rounds on the testing par-71 links near North Berwick lie ahead from Thursday to Sunday and Gotterup is enjoying being back in Scotland and at The Renaissance.
It has certainly been a remarkable year for the player. He was 158th in the world last year and now he is in at No 7, playing in top groups but he told the media that his personal life has not changed much since he won here. Golf wise it has because of his recent wins.
Everybody, he said, has asked what he has done differently to gain the success he has and he said: “I just kept working hard with the help of my coaches and family and girlfriend and it has worked out.”
Gotterup (pictured in the media centre at The Renaissance by Nigel Duncan) has just had what he called “a crazy week”. He did not sleep much on the plane over but this is a busy spell for the player who went straight home after the win last Sunday, went home, packed and jetted to Scotland.
Now he’s looking to recce the course, and there are subtle changes, getting used to the shots and the style needed to challenge on a links venue.
Basically, he wants to make a strong defence of the silverware and to enjoy being in Scotland.
