Professional details the ‘whirlwind’ journey from college to Tiger’s tour

“I’ve never been to the Bahamas.”

“I’ve never seen water so blue.”

These are just the first PGA Tour rookies Nick Dunlap has experienced what has been a whirlwind year for the rising star, a year unlike any other in golf history.

As recently as eight months ago, Dunlap was still a sophomore on the University of Alabama golf team. Now he’s a two-time PGA Tour champion about to make his debut Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, along with 19 of the best players on the planet.

“It’s very special,” Dunlap said Tuesday in his press conference before the Hero. “Eight months ago I was sitting at a table with all my teammates playing college golf. The world came to me a little too fast.”

Of course, Dunlap’s remarkable journey to this point began even before he left Alabama. In January, Dunlap played the PGA Tour’s American Express event as an amateur, earning a sponsor’s exemption thanks to his victory in the 2023 US Amateur.

It was just his fourth career PGA Tour start. And he won.

While Tiger holds three US Amateur titles to Dunlap’s tally, Woods never won a PGA Tour as an amateur. In fact, no one had done it since Phil Mickelson in 1991.

Originally hoping to make the tour in 2025 through PGA Tour University, the American Express win fast-tracked those plans and he turned pro soon after. But it took some time for Dunlap to get used to his new life after his meteoric rise.

“Those first two or three months were, I mean, I didn’t know where to go, what to expect, all the golf courses were new,” Dunlap explained Tuesday.

Another thing to add to his growing list of “new” experiences in 2024? Suddenly playing alongside the Tour pros he had watched and admired as a child.

“I grew up, and still do, looking up to these guys and for them – for me to watch them on TV and then for them to be my peers was a little bit new.”

The intense environment of PGA Tour life also required some adjustments.

“I think at the beginning of the year it was a little more. The media, it was loud, the social media was loud. In the middle of the year I had to figure it out. At the beginning of the year I was always looking to the future,” Dunlap explained. “The middle of the year took me this is where I’ve always dreamed of being, I’m there – I’m 20 years old and I’m living my dream. Somehow when I realized that, I started having more fun and living in the moment and playing every tournament for what it stands for and just enjoying being out there.”

But his record shows it didn’t take him that long to get used to the rigors of the tournament. In July, Dunlap won the Barracuda Championship to earn his second PGA Tour victory.

Dunlap was a member of the winning 2023 US Walker Cup team that competed and won in St. Andrews last year. But thanks to the hot start to his pro career, he’s now eyeing another team event: the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

“That’s what I’d like to be a part of,” Dunlap admitted to reporters at the Hero. “I’ve got him surrounded and I’m doing everything I can to get into that team.”

While Dunlap will compete with a group of tournament stars he grew up watching live on TV this week, Woods is not one of them. At just 20 years old, Dunlap is too young to catch Tiger in his prime. But this does not mean that he is unknown. As is the case with many young players today, he still saw a lot of Tiger greatness thanks to YouTube.

“Yes, I’m a bit young but I certainly remember (Tiger in his prime), I’ve seen highlights. I grew up watching like everyone else doing YouTube highlights and all of his records that will never be reached, will never be caught,” Dunlap said. “To share a little bit of history with him is very humbling .But no, just sitting here on his tour and being in the Bahamas when I should be a freshman in college is unbelievable and I definitely don’t take it for granted.”

And in case it wasn’t already clear, Dunlap confirmed Tuesday that despite everything he’s accomplished in the past year, the “awe factor” of how far he’s come in such a short amount of time hasn’t gone away.

“Even just showing up on golf courses sometimes, I got to go to some tournaments when I was younger and still walk the range and hit balls, the little kid in me is still there and it’s still very much there. fun for me,” Dunlap explained. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m a competitor and I like to play my best, but no, obviously the fear factor is still there.”

An unfortunate wrinkle in Dunlap’s 2024 campaign was that because he was an amateur for his American Express win, he failed to take home the massive $1.512 million winner’s check. But don’t worry about Nick, he still collected $720,000 for his Barracuda win and another $760,000 for a T5 finish at the FedEx St. Louis Championship. Jew.

And even if the pressure of playing his idols gets the best of him this week and he finishes last, Dunlap will still walk away with $150,000 and, presumably, a photo with Tiger Woods.

Not bad for a 20 year old.

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