The WM Phoenix Open almost always brings high drama and this year’s edition at the Stadium Course at TPC Scottsdale was no different.
Hideki Matsuyama entered Sunday’s final round with a one-shot lead over Si Woo Kim, Maverick McNealy, and Nicolai Hojgaard, with a group of players that included World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland not far behind.
Matsuyama missed the fairway on the front nine on Sunday, but managed to shoot a bogey-free, two-under 33 to maintain a one-shot lead over Kim and Michael Thorbjornsen entering the back nine.
Then, as things always do at TPC Scottsdale, things turned ugly.
Scheffler made birdies on 13, 14, 15 and 17 to get within one of Matsuyama. Chris Gotterup carded 13, 14, 15, 17 and 18 to post 16 under. When Michael Thorbjornsen poured 15 eagles he pulled slightly ahead of each Matsuyama. But the tournament turned in Matsuyama’s favor when he shot 15 and Thorbjornsen fired a 16 to take the lead with two to play. Torbjornsen dropped another shot on 17, meaning all Matsuyama had to do was walk home for the final three holes to avoid a match with Gotterup.
But it wasn’t going to be that easy for Matsuyama. He hit his shot on 18 in the church bunker and clipped the exit lip. He couldn’t get up from 43 yards, meaning that for the seventh time in 11 years, the WM Phoenix Open was headed for a championship. It was Matsuyama’s first bogey on the second nine all week.
And that’s where the drama ended.
Gotterup hit his drive to the right but it kicked into the fairway. Matsuyama was not so lucky. He pulled his ball left towards the stands again, but the ball hit the post holding the rope of the gallery and bounced back into the water.
Ten minutes later, Gotterup drained a long birdie putt to clinch his second win of the season and the first title of his WM Phoenix Open career.
Here’s how much everyone made in Phoenix this week.
2026 WM Phoenix Open payout for every player
WIN: Chris Gotterup, $1.728 million
2. Hideki Matsuyama, $1.0464 million
T3. Scottie Scheffler, $439,480
Nicolai Hojgaard, $439,480
Akshay Bhatia, $439,480
Si Woo Kim, $439,480
Michael Thorbjornsen, $439,480
8. Jake Knapp, $300,000
9. Matt Fitzpatrick, $280,800
T10. Viktor Hovland, $242,400
Ryo Hisatsune, $242,400
Pierceson Coody, $242,400
T13. Maverick McNealy, $188,000
Kevin Roy, $188,000
Zecheng Dou, $188,000
T16. Daniel Berger, $160,800
Jordan Smith, $160,800
T18. Rickie Fowler, $122,720
Michael Kim, $122,720
Jacob Bridgeman, $122,720
Sahith Theegala, $122,720
Sepp Straka, $122,720
Mac Meissner, $122,720
T24. Ryan Fox, $82,320
Rico Hoey, $82,320
Kurt Kitayama, $82,320
Rasmus Hojgaard, $82,320
T28. Harris English, $62,948
Nick Taylor, $62,948
AJ Ewart, $62,948
Ben Griffin, $62,948
Mackenzie Hughes, $62,948
Mr Woo Lee, $62,948
Stephan Jaeger, $62,948
T35. Sam Stevens, $46,800
Wyndham Clark, $46,800
Alex Smalley, $46,800
Tom Kim, $46,800
JT Poston, $46,800
John Parry, $46,800
T41. Xander Schauffele, $34,080
Keith Mitchell, $34,080
Cameron Young, $34,080
Rasmus Neegaard-Petersen, $34,080
Johnny Keefer, $34,080
Sami Valimaki, $34,080
Kristoffer Retian, $34,080
T48. Christo Lamprecht, $24,608
Chad Ramey, $24,608
Michael Brennan, $24,608
Max McGreevy, $24,608
Zach Bauchou, $24,608
ST Lee, $24,608
T54. Collin Morikawa, $22,272
SH Kim, $22,272
Joe Highsmith, $22,272
Brian Campbell, $22,272
Kensei Hirata, $22,272
Sudarshan Yellamaraju, $22,272
T60. Patrick Rodgers, $21,312
Adrien Saddy, $21,312
Takumi Kanaya, $21,312
John VanDerLaan, $21,312
T64. Gary Woodland, $20,736
Davis Thompson, $20,736
T66. Max Homa, $20,352
Chandler Phillips, $20,352
T68. Bud Cauley, $19,872
Hank Lebioda, $19,872
Neal Shipley, $19,872
71. Keita Nakajima, $19,488
72. Patton Kizzire, $19,296
73. Cam Davis, $19,104
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