Augusta debut: American Express winner Nick Dunlap soaking in his first Masters
Nick Dunlap was supposed to play in the Masters this week as the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, and he surely expected back in August when he won the Amateur title that he would play the first two rounds of the Masters with Augusta National defending champion Jon Rahm.
It’s remarkable how the lives of Rahm and Dunlap have changed in the seven months since Dunlap won the Amateur championship, and how somehow the two golfers who won the last two The American Express titles are still playing together at the Masters despite it all.
First came Rahm’s decision to jump from the PGA to the LIV tour, a jump that knocked him out of PGA Tour events. But the Masters is not a PGA Tour-run event, so Rahm and a dozen other golfers from the LIV tour will be in the field this week, Rahm as the defending champion.
Dunlap, on the other hand, crafted the single best story on the PGA Tour this year – and one of the few television ratings successes for the tour – by winning The American Express as both an amateur and a sponsor’s exemption. By turning pro in the following days, Dunlap made a little news by abandoning his Masters invitation as a U.S. Amateur winner knowing he would still be in the Masters for winning a tour event.
More: Nick Dunlap's golf story takes new turn with pro debut at Pebble Beach
So when the pairings for the Masters came out Tuesday, it was no surprise to see Rahm and Dunlap still paired together, along with former U.S. Open winner Matthew Fitzpatrick. While Rahm is the defender at Augusta National, Dunlap is one of a handful of high-profile first-time Masters starters. In talking to the media at Augusta National, Dunlap isn’t taking his first stroll down Magnolia Lane lightly.
“Life is too short for special things like that,” Dunlap said. “May not get a chance to come back; maybe I'll play 20 more times. I have no idea.”
Slow but steady
It has been a sluggish start to a professional career for Dunlap. He’s played six times as a pro, missing the cut twice and finishing 80th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a signature event with no cut. But at the Texas Children’s Houston Open two weeks ago, Dunlap produced his best performances since The American Express, tying for 11th and shooting a third-round 63, his best round since a third-round 60 at La Quinta Country Club during his magnificent week in the desert.
“I'm learning that the hard way in some of these events but also learning that 4-, 5-under is top 10 and even-par is the cut, so it's the small mistakes that I'm trying to clean up, and the things that Coach Seawell (of Alabama) tried to beat into our brains for a few years,” Dunlap said.
It would be easy to say that Dunlap is starting to get his legs under him as a pro with the Houston performance. But this week is different. Yes, Dunlap has played in two U.S. Opens (missing the cut both times), but the Masters, with Jon Rahm as a playing partner, is probably enough to put a little shake in Dunlap’s legs. The former University of Alabama golfer is trying to take in the experience as much as he can.
“I don't know. I just try to enjoy it, look around,” Dunlap said. “I got here at 10:30 this morning and walked around until noon. Didn't do anything. Walked around the pro shop like three times.”
The last four months have been remarkable for Dunlap with a series of firsts, from his first win to his first start as a pro and now his first major championship as a pro. As someone pointed out to Dunlap, the only drawback might be that he can’t possibly be the low amateur at the tournament, something he would have had a real shot at until the win in La Quinta in January.
So what should fans expect from Dunlap in his first Masters? Even Dunlap isn’t sure, but he admits he is missing at least one Masters tradition for amateurs that won’t happen for him now.
“I think it will be really cool to stay in the Crow's Nest for a night or two and experience that,” Dunlap said of amateur quarters at the club. “Fortunately and unfortunately I'm in a new position and grateful to be here, but, no, I wish they would let me pop in there for a second. But it is what it is.”
Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for The Desert Sun. You can contact him at (760) 778-4633 or at larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @larry_bohannan. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Desert Sun.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: American Express winner Nick Dunlap soaking in his first Masters
