Nick Dunlap ready for decision over future after amateur’s stunning win on PGA Tour
Dunlap is the youngest amateur to win on the PGA Tour since 1910 and the first since Phil Mickelson back in 1991
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Your support makes all the difference.US golfer Nick Dunlap won The American Express tournament by one shot to become the first amateur to take home PGA glory in 33 years.
The victory makes Dunlap the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson back in 1991.
“Everybody’s got doubts,” Dunlap said. “I probably had a thousand different scenarios in my head of how today was going to go, and it went nothing like I expected. I think that was the cool part about it. That’s golf.
“Nothing like I’ve ever felt. It was so cool to be out here and experience this as an amateur. Whether I had made that or missed that (last putt), if you would have told me (on) Wednesday night I would have a putt to win this golf tournament, I wouldn’t believe you.
Dunlap would not commit to his future and whether he will turn professional
“I have no idea, I really don’t,” Dunlap said. “It’s really cool to have that opportunity in the first place. Starting the week, if you would have said, ‘Hey, in five days you’re going to have a PGA Tour card, or an opportunity for two years,’ I would have looked at you sideways.
“But that’s something that it doesn’t just affect me. It affects a lot of people — Coach back there, and my teammates — and it’s a conversation I need to have with a lot of people before I make that decision.”
The 20-year-old University of Alabama student sank a birdie putt at the par-five 16th to equal the lead of fellow US player Sam Burns at the Pete Dye Stadium Course in La Quinta, California.
Burns then stumbled on the day’s toughest hole, finding water off the tee at the par-three 17th.
At that time, Dunlap was on the green 35 feet from the hole.
He went on to make a routine par, while Burns came out with a double bogey.
The amateur took the lead with the par-four 18th remaining, while on the 18th green, South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout birdied to pull within one.
Dunlap pulled his tee shot into the right rough, but recovered with his approach to tap in for par and claim victory with a 72-hole record low winning score of 29 under 259.
He broke the benchmark of 28 under set by US golfer Patrick Reed in 2014.
Dunlap is the youngest amateur to win on the PGA Tour since 1910.
While he will not collect the 1.5million dollars (£1.18million) prize money, he has secured his PGA Tour card for two years.
Last year, Dunlap became the only player other than Tiger Woods to claim both titles of US Junior Amateur and US Amateur.
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