2023 U.S. Amateur champion Nick Dunlap wins PGA Tour Rookie of the Year
19 Dec 2024
by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com
see also: Nick Dunlap Rankings
SHARE:
Nick Dunlap (USGA Photo)
After starting the year at Alabama, Nick Dunlap is now the 2024 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
Dunlap hit the national headlines after winning the 2023 U.S. Amateur over Neal Shipley.
In January, Dunlap became an American Express champion, the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson conquered the Northern Telecom in Arizona in 1991.
He became the first amateur in three decades to win on the PGA TOUR and the second-youngest winner in the last 90 years. The only younger winner on Tour in the last 90 years was Jordan Spieth at the 2013 John Deere Classic.
RELATED ARTICLES
Nick Dunlap secures second professional win
Nick Dunlap turns pro after winning on Tour
Roll Tide! Nick Dunlap joins history books, wins PGA Tour's American Express
He also won the 2024 Barracuda Championship for his first win as a professional. In the Stableford format tournament, Dunlap put together a remarkable final round, recording 19 points in the final round to propel 27 spots up the leaderboard and chase down the leaders.
Dunlap had seven birdies and an eagle to shoot a 9-under 62. He recorded 12, 7, 11, and 19 points through the four rounds to get to 49 points and win by two shots over Vince Whaley.
Along with Tiger Woods, he is one of two men to win the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur. He broke a 33-year streak when he won on the PGA Tour as an amateur. That puts him next to Phil Mickelson, who won the 1991 Northern Telecom Open, and Tiger Woods in the record books.
In the summer of 2023, Dunlap also won the Northeast Amateur and the North & South Amateur, both Elite Amateur Series events. He was also a member of the winning Walker Cup team at St. Andrews.
Most recently, Dunlap teed it up at the Hero World Challenge.
Dunlap will tee it up with eight members of the United States’ victorious 2024 Presidents Cup team (Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Sahith Theegala, Keegan Bradley, Russell Henley, Sam Burns, and Brian Harman) and three members of the International team (Sungjae Im, Tom Kim and Jason Day) in the Bahamas.
"To be in the Bahamas when I should be a junior in college is unbelievable, and I definitely don't take it for granted," Dunlap told the PGA Tour.