Gotterup held on late on Sunday to top McIlroy and the rest of the field and win the Genesis Scottish Open. That marked his second career PGA Tour win and earned the 25-year-old one of the final spots into next week's British Open.

Chris Gotterup had a plane ticket for California to play an opposite-field event in Lake Tahoe. The only change in itinerary would be to take down Rory McIlroy at the Scottish Open before a sellout crowd expecting the Masters champion to claim his 30th title on the PGA Tour.

In addition to McIlroy, the emergence on the leaderboard of the likes of Matthew Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Xander Schauffele, Viktor Hovland and World No 1, Scottie Scheffler, should’ve been accompanied by the kind of ominous rumbling you’d hear when heavy artillery gets maneuvered into a strategic position.