This past Sunday, Alabama Crimson Tide sophomore Nick Dunlap won the American Express Tournament—a PGA Tour event—but won't receive his $1.5 prize payout.
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WOW! 🏆
20-year-old amateur Nick Dunlap is a PGA TOUR champion.
He's the youngest amateur to win since 1910. pic.twitter.com/DKQmK0fuAe
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 22, 2024
With the amateur status, Dunlap, 20, became the youngest player with that status to win a PGA TOUR event since 1910.
He shot -29, beating out Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Xander Shauffele, and Justin Thomas. He beat Bezuidenhout by one stroke and Shauffle and Thomas by two. It's more impressive that he won this while bringing some college coursework to do in California during the event.
Why can't he collect the $1.5 million in prize money? It's solely because of that "amateur" status.
While we're seeing Dunlap's success here, he has quite a lengthy resume for someone 20 years old.
Last year, Dunlap qualified for the US Open. He also played 37 rounds in his first full season with the Crimson Tide. Of those 37 events, he shot even or under par in 26, which is tied for the second-most in the program's history.
With this success, we could see Dunlap consider turning pro.
Following this win, Dunlap can turn pro starting now and up through the 2026 season. He'll have 30 days after the end of the season to decide if he wants to turn pro in the following season. This applies to turning pro in 2025 or 2026.
Right now, though, he's unsure.
"That's a decision that's not just about me," Dunlap said about turning pro. "It affects a lot of people, and obviously, I'm going to try to enjoy this," he said to PGA Tour Radio.
While Dunlap can participate in major tournaments like the Masters, US Open, British Open, and US Amateur, he'll forego the $1.5 million in prize money here and the 500 FedEx Cup Points.
Where does the money go, then?
To second place player Bezuidenhout.
Dunlap is now the No. 68 player in the world.
Nick Dunlap has made the biggest jump in Official World Golf Ranking history. 🤯
(H/T: @VC606) pic.twitter.com/N6vB0yPSVR
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) January 22, 2024
We'll be eagerly anticipating his professional career.
