Amanda Balionis lauds 'big hitter' Chris Gotterup after Genesis Scottish Open win: "This is just the beginning"

Amanda Balionis showered praise on Chris Gotterup, who claimed the Genesis Scottish Open 2025 title. The popular golf broadcaster hailed her fellow Northeasterner for giving neck-and-neck competition to Rory McIlroy, who finished runner-up.

On Sunday, July 13, Gotterup fired a 4-under 66 to win the Genesis Scottish Open 2025. He finished at 15-under after four rounds, posting a two-shot victory over Marco Penge and Rory McIlroy.

Following Gotterup’s second win on the PGA Tour, Amanda Balionis wrote a post on Instagram praising the young golfer.

"It doesn’t get better than a Sunday like this," she wrote. "The best in the world battling it out where the game began… and it’s Chris Gotterup who gets it done. I may be biased as a fellow Northeasterner, but man was it fun watching the young Jersey kid figure out links golf and take down a world-class field, including going toe-to-toe with 🌍 #2 Rory McIlroy. "This is just the beginning for the big hitter, and the emotions that poured out afterwards tells you everything you need to know about what this game, and win, means to him. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿"

---

Chris Gotterup gets emotional during an interview with Amanda Balionis

Following his biggest win, Chris Gotterup did a brief interview with CBS journalist Amanda Balionis. However, during the interview, he could hardly keep his tears under control. The talented golfer was composed at the start, but when Balionis asked about the emotions, he let it flow.

"Give me a sec," he said while fighting back his tears. "I don't know if I'm going to be able to get it out but everyone at home, I don't know, but I mean, this is awesome. I'm not going to be able to keep it together. I can't wait to see everyone and then I'm playing The Open next week."

Here's the video:

Prior to this week, the 25-year-old was having an ordinary season. He had missed 9 cuts in 21 starts and didn’t have a single top-10 finish. However, he did record nine top-25 finishes, indicating that he just needed a bit of fine-tuning to reach the next level.

The purse for the Genesis Scottish Open was $9 million, and Gotterup bagged $1.575 million as the winner’s share, while runner-up Marco Penge and Rory McIlroy each took home $788,175.

In addition to the prize money, Gotterup has also qualified for the Open Championship 2025, which begins on July 17 at Royal Portrush.

Edited by Shobhit Kukreti