{"id":578154,"date":"2026-02-09T19:54:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/578154\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T19:54:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T19:54:11","slug":"chris-gotterup-addresses-wm-phoenix-open-crowds-following-hideki-matsuyama-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/578154\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Gotterup addresses WM Phoenix Open crowds following Hideki Matsuyama incident"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Chris Gotterup outduelled Hideki Matsuyama in a playoff to claim the WM Phoenix Open title.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Gotterup shot a closing 64, and after Matsuyama bogeyed the final hole of regulation, the American clinched victory with a birdie on the first extra hole.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>The 26-year-old now has four PGA Tour wins and is starting to build a reputation as one of golf\u2019s rising talents.<\/p>\n<p>Matsuyama remains on 11 PGA Tour victories but had his chances. He was distracted by a fan shouting just as he was about to putt for the win.<\/p>\n<p>In the playoff, another interruption came when a security guard dropped a chair while Matsuyama was midway through his swing on the 18th tee.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Gotterup shares thoughts on WM Phoenix Open crowd after Hideki Matsuyama incident<img alt=\"Photo by Alex Goodlett\/Getty Images\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"800\" height=\"534\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/b1fc76c22a12e16573693321e81bd55c.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Photo by Alex Goodlett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Hideki Matsuyama, known for his calm demeanour on the PGA Tour, did not reference the disruption after the round. However, it did not go unnoticed.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>So, what did Gotterup make of everything that happened?<\/p>\n<p>After his win, he was asked about how he felt about the fan behaviour throughout the week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, it\u2019s a good thing that there\u2019s so many people,\u201d the 26-year-old replied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou hear it but it\u2019s all \u2013 you have so much going through your brain, it\u2019s almost like white noise. For it to be \u2013 obviously I think on the tee box a chair fell. Of course that happens in the playoff.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut it\u2019s just a crazy atmosphere, and you just have to embrace it this week, and I felt like I did a good job of that. Let alone trying to win a tournament and then also having people line the fairways, it just makes it that much more difficult.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I felt like I was focused on what I was doing. We talked everything through, me and Brady, and yeah, and then for the putt to go in is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The WM Phoenix Open is known for its lively environment every year.<\/p>\n<p>This time though, things went too far and now there are calls for the PGA Tour to step in and make changes.<\/p>\n<p>Calls for action grow as fan behaviour at PGA Tour events comes under scrutiny<\/p>\n<p>The topic of fan behaviour has been a lingering issue in the professional game for some time. It is a conversation that only seems to be picking up momentum, especially after recent events.<\/p>\n<p>Should there be restrictions on alcohol sales at PGA Tour events? Or perhaps even lifetime bans for those who cross the line?<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>It is clear something needs to change soon. Golf has always been a sport built on respect and tradition, but that image is starting to slip due to how some fans are acting.<\/p>\n<p>Gotterup came out on top against Matsuyama, but there is a fair question lingering in the aftermath\u2026<\/p>\n<p>If Matsuyama had not been interrupted during his swing on the first playoff hole, would the result have been different?<\/p>\n<p>We will never know for sure, but even having to ask highlights just how serious this issue has become for the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"content-list\">\n<li\/>\n<li\/><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Gotterup outduelled Hideki Matsuyama in a playoff to claim the WM Phoenix Open title. Gotterup shot a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":578155,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[48],"tags":[43650,13056,1456,62,1464,67,132,68,76323],"class_list":["post-578154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-chris-gotterup","tag-hideki-matsuyama","tag-pga-tour","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wm-phoenix-open"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}