Kings of Clean Contact cross finish line as Jani-King Spring Clean Challenge champs

If he wasn’t one of the world’s best golfers, Chris Gotterup admits he’d have cozied up over the weekend and taken in all the action from the PGA Championship.

“Today would definitely be one of those days where I’d be on the couch thinking, ‘How did he hit it there? How did he do that?’” Gotterup said Friday.

Instead, he was living the answer in real time — and remembering just how different it feels when you’re the one tasked with pulling it off.

“Then you’re out there,” he added, “and it just feels like it’s impossible.”

The world No. 10 has spent the year climbing into golf’s upper tier, and at Aronimink Golf Club outside Philadelphia, he found himself squarely in contention after a sparkling 5-under 65. The vantage point had shifted — from curious observer to central figure in one of the game’s toughest tests.

Asked whether he prefers birdie-fests or grinding, major-style examinations, Gotterup framed it less as a preference than an expectation shaped by experience.

“I think at this point, being out here a couple years, you kind of know what’s coming,” he said. “You go to a place like the AmEx, you’re expecting a ton of birdies. But here, it’s a little more U.S. Open-esque.”

That contrast, he believes, is part of the game’s appeal. The modern schedule offers a rhythm — weeks where scoring dips deep into the teens under par, and others where par feels like an achievement.

“I think it’s a good mix,” he said. “Especially this year, it hasn’t been super low. If I was a fan, I’d probably want it somewhere in the middle.”

Not too easy. Not impossible. Just demanding enough to keep players and viewers leaning forward.

“I think 16-under is a good number,” Gotterup said. “A good target for the week.”

While the excitement of the PGA Championship was palpable, Gotterup and teammate Jacob Bridgeman didn’t allow the same competitiveness to creep into the Jani-King Spring Clean Challenge, which wrapped up at the PGA Championship.

The seven-tournament event finished with Aronimink and the Kings of Clean Contact, the team led by Gotterup and Bridgeman, ran away with the title. With Brady Stockton and GW Cable on their bags, respectively, the duo collected 785 points and easily topped the Carolina Clean team of Andrew Novak and J.T. Poston, who finished with 231 points. In third place was Tom Hoge and Michael Kim, known as Clean Strikes, who finished with 199 points.

Individual leaders:

Chris Gotterup (397.148) • Jacob Bridgeman (388.375) • Andrew Novak (160.085)

What began in 2015 as a modest pilot with just a dozen caddies has since grown into one of the most visible partnerships in the game. The relationship between Jani-King and the Association of Professional Tour Caddies (APTC) now stretches across dozens of bags, each marked by the unmistakable Jani-King towel.

It’s everywhere on a tournament weekend — draped over shoulders, tucked into back pockets, in constant motion from the first tee to the final green. The towel becomes part of the rhythm of play: cleaning clubfaces, wiping grips, and, almost effortlessly, placing the Jani-King brand into nearly every televised frame, often alongside players contending down the stretch.

There are two more weeks of the challenge promotion with green towels on caddies this week at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and then next week at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth. Both hold significance to Jani-King, which is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Kings of Clean Contact are Jani-King Spring Clean Challenge champs