Alabama golfer Nick Dunlap makes history at the American Express
Nick Dunlap put himself in some rarified air this weekend at the American Express Championships in La Quinta, California. He shot 29-under par for the weekend, becoming the first amateur golfer to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson did it in 1991. Alabama men’s golf made sure to tweet out a message of congrats to him on the historic feat.
Plenty of his relatives were in attendance and got to celebrate the big win with him. You can also see the reaction of his teammates on Alabama golf, and they went wild as you might expect. It’s an unbelievable accomplishment for a young golfer that constantly demonstrates the remarkably bright future ahead of him.
Plenty of golfers on the LIV Tour and PGA Tour tweeted out messages of congratulations to him, including Jon Rahm and Phil Mickelson. The American Express has seen plenty of impressive feats, ranging from Arnold Palmer’s five tournament wins to David Duval’s iconic 59 in the final round to come from behind and win the 1999 version. Dunlap just placed himself among some of the all-time greats, no doubt about it.
His third round was nearly flawless. The Alabama star managed to card a 60 on Saturday, the lowest round by an amateur in PGA Tour history.
His 29-under (259 total) is the tournament record since the event moved to a 72-hole format in 2012. Dunlap is the youngest winner of the PGA Tour since Jordan Spieth won the 2013 John Deere Classic, when he was 19-years old.
Unfortunately, since he’s an amateur, the Alabama star will walk away with no prize money. South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who finished second place (28-under par), will take home the $1,512,000 check for first-place. After all Dunlap has already accomplished, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him turn pro sometime in the near future. He’s unquestionably one of the most decorated amateur golfers of all-time and he only added another trophy to his case on Sunday.
In August of 2023, Dunlap joined Tiger Woods as the only golfers ever to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur crowns. He brought home the most coveted prize in all of amateur golf at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado. He won the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship after he defeated Ohio State star Neal Shipley–up 4 holes with 3 holes remaining.