Nicholas Dunlap has featured in 25 PGA Tour events so far and even won two of them. While he also faced a much more experienced ensemble of pros, Dunlap still managed to impress with three Top 5 and four Top 10 finishes.
At first glance, it might seem like Dunlap is an experienced player with 2-3 years of playtime under his belt. But what if I were to tell you that he only turned pro in 2024? What is even more surprising is that he is only 20 years old!
We all know how difficult it can be to break it into the circuit. But Nicholas Dunlap makes it seem like child’s play, literally! He has achieved incredible success in his short spell at the Tour so far and he has everyone rooting for him.
There is no doubt about his gifts as a natural athlete. His glorious exploits have displayed the wide array of skills he possesses. You might be wondering how he became such a brilliant athlete. It has a lot to do with the efforts he has put in during his pre-teen years. Let’s learn more about his journey before he turned into a pro golfer earlier this year.
How did Nicholas Dunlap get so good at golf?
Dunlap has always shown interest in a variety of sports, long before his teens. Apart from golf, Nicholas Dunlap was also active in other sports as well, namely football, baseball, and basketball. He was so good that he could have become a pro in any of them had he desired. His first major achievement came at the age of 8 when he was selected for the NFL Punt, Pass & Kick Nationals in 2013. Yes, he was only 8 years old when he was chosen to participate in a National Football League event. How about that? Dunlap started to show signs of his excellent athletic abilities when he became one of the finalists in the tournament. He also went on to feature in the NFC Championship game right after.
During his time at the Greystone Golf & Country Club, he was highly praised by his lead instructor, Brian Speakman. Speakman said that Dunlap was “extremely athletic” and a “pretty-high-level” player in baseball and football. Who would have thought that he would transition into a pro golfer instead?
So what made him choose a career as a professional golfer? In an interview for CBS News, Dunlap mentioned how he grew up playing multiple sports at a time. He further added, “For whatever reason I was out on the range with [my father] one day, and he’s not very good himself, and I, just, for whatever reason, picked up a golf club and started playing and fell in love with how difficult it is and trying to perfect it,“.
The intricacies of the sport and the challenges it presented became the driving force behind Dunlap’s golfing journey. However, in the same interview, he also admitted that the sport is nearly impossible to perfect. He said, “You can always get better, and whenever you feel like you’re doing something special, golf never fails to kick you right in the teeth.”
Based on his achievements so far, it is safe to assume that Dunlap relishes the fruits of his decisions. Let’s take a glance at the data and numbers that speak about his career so far.
How has Dunlap fared on the greens?
In 2021 and 2023, respectively, Dunlap captured the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Amateur titles. He is also the second player after Tiger Woods to achieve both titles. Still being an amateur at the start of 2024, he managed to win the American Express in January. This led to him going into the record books for many more accolades. The amateur golfer also became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event, since Phil Mickelson in 1991. At just the age of 19, he managed to match the records of two of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
Speaking of his age, he also became one of the youngest players to win a PGA event in the last century. Hence, Dunlap became the first player in PGA history to win as an amateur and pro in the same year. The last trophy he bagged was the Barracuda Championship in July 2024, which was his first as a professional.
Considering the speed at which he is gathering the titles, we might need to update this article after publishing if he ends up winning another championship till then.
All jokes aside, we are excited to see what the future holds for the young prodigy. What we can assure is that his plays will be highly exhilarating, debatably surprising, and record-breaking. What do you think will be his next achievement? Please share your views in the comments section.
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