What a privilege it was to watch Nick Dunlap etch his name into the PGA Tour record books.
The 20-year-old American became the first amateur since 1991 to win on the US circuit at The American Express at La Quinta.
Despite finding the water on hole 7 on a tense Sunday afternoon, Dunlap dug in to card a final-round 70 at the Stadium Course to complete an awesome one-shot victory over Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
His amateur record is impeccable, but few could’ve foreseen this performance and Justin Thomas was certainly caught by surprise on Saturday.
“Didn’t think I was going to have to deal with a freaking college kid shooting 60 today,” he said.
With 10 birdies and an eagle at La Quinta Country Club in round three, Dunlap put himself into a three-shot lead after 54 holes and in position A to emulate Phil Mickelson at the Northern Telecom Open 33 years ago.
Sam Burns dropped out of contention with a double-bogey on 17, while Dunlap made crucial birdies on holes 14 and 16 to help seal the deal on 29-under-par.
He is the second-youngest player to win on the PGA Tour after World War Two since Jordan Spieth, just the fifth amateur to win on the tour in the last 75 years and he is also the first reigning US Amateur champion to win on tour since Tiger Woods in 1996.
Nick Dunlap: Who is this college star?
Dunlap is in his sophomore year at the University of Alabama, and he has always been destined for golfing greatness.
As a 12-year-old, he shot a 59 at Highland Golf Club in Birmingham, Alabama. When he was 19, he lipped out for a 59 at the Hamptons Intercollegiate in New York.
Dunlap beat Neal Shipley 4&3 in the final of the US Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club last year, becoming just the second Alabama golfer to win America’s biggest amateur event.
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He also became just the second player in history to win both the US Junior Amateur and the US Amateur after Tiger Woods.
Starring at the Walker Cup and the Presidents Cup last summer, Dunlap won even more accolades at the Northeast Amateur and the North & South Amateur.
He is ranked third in the World Amateur Golf Rankings with only Gordon Sargent and Christo Lamprecht ahead of him.
In November, Dunlap was named among 20 nominees for the Fred Haskins Award which is given to the outstanding collegiate golfer in the United States.
He has played in the US Open twice and as the US Amateur champion, he is invited to play in all of the majors bar the PGA Championship.
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