Dunlap in position to halt 33-year amateur drought
By The Associated Press
Nick Dunlap’s girlfriend flew cross-country Saturday to spend the weekend with him in Palm Springs, so the two college students planned to go get a steak dinner before Dunlap wraps up his day with a little laundry and some homework.
And then today, Dunlap will attempt to become the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour in 33 years.
The University of Alabama sophomore fired a 12-under 60 to take a three-shot lead over Sam Burns at The American Express on Saturday, matching the lowest round by an amateur in PGA Tour history.
Justin Thomas shot 61 and was four shots back of the 20-year-old Dunlap, who tore up La Quinta Country Club and moved to 27-under 189 on the Coachella Valley tournament’s three generous courses.
With 10 birdies and an eagle in his aggressive, accurate round, Dunlap matched then-amateur Patrick Cantlay’s 60 at the 2011 Travelers Championship. Dunlap’s score to par was the best ever by an amateur; Cantlay was 10 under at par-70 TPC River Highlands.
“The putter felt so good,” Dunlap said. “The hole looked like a funnel.”
Only seven amateurs have won on the PGA Tour since 1945, and only four since 1950. The last to do it was Phil Mickelson, who won the Tucson Open in 1991 as a 20-year-old Arizona State junior.
Burns led after two rounds, but Dunlap flew past him while playing a couple of hours earlier. Burns shot a steady 65 on the Stadium Course to stay in contention after taking the lead with his career-low 61 on Friday.
The final round will be played today on the Stadium Course, where Thomas tied the course record on Saturday. Dunlap shot a bogey-free 65 on the Stadium on Friday for the highest score of his three impressive rounds.
DP World Tour
Rory Mcilroy surged into contention at the Dubai Desert Classic by finishing off a 9-under 63 with an eagle on the final hole that left him two shots behind leader Cameron Young.
The No. 2-ranked Mcilroy, the defending champion, started the day 10 strokes behind Young. But he made four straight birdies from the seventh hole and then rolled in a 45-foot eagle putt from off the green at 18 to cap a flawless round at Emirates Golf Club.
That putt kept him in striking distance of a record fourth title at the tournament.
Young got himself in some trouble by dropping three shots in two holes, with a double-bogey at the par-3 seventh followed by a bogey on the next hole. But he made three birdies on the back nine for a 71 to stay two shots ahead of Mcilroy and Adrian Meronk, the recently crowned European tour’s player of 2023 who carded a 70.
Young has a 14-under total of 202 as he looks for a first win on the European tour.
LPGA Touor
Lydia Ko moved closer to her first victory in 14 months, shooting a 4-under 68 to take a twoshot lead into the final round of the LPGA Tour’s season-opening Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Fla.
The 26-year-old from New Zealand is seeking her 20th career victory and first since the seasonending CME Group Tour Championship in 2022. A win would also leave Ko one victory short of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Her closest pursuer is secondyear pro Alexa Pano, 19, who struggled at times from tee to green but exhibited a crisp short game to stay close to the lead in the elite field of LPGA winners from the past two years.
Pano shot 67, the day’s secondbest round.
The Lakers have been faced with a similar question multiple times just a little over halfway through the 202324 regular season.
And it came up again after Friday night’s 130-112 home loss to the Brooklyn Nets: How will they prevent a tough loss from impacting future performances? Especially in light of it seeming like they were starting to turn a corner in their season?
“You show it on film,” coach Darvin Ham said. “You look at it. You address it with the group. We’ve had a few of those this year and we normally respond well from it. And this is no different. You take all the good, the bad, the ugly and you show it to them and try to get better from it.”
And when the Lakers go back and watch the film from the loss, they’ll likely notice an offense that wasn’t as organized or deliberate with their attack as it was in Wednesday’s home win over the Dallas Mavericks. Or even Monday’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And a defense that allowed the Nets to get rolling and find their momentum in the second half because of miscommunications — something D’angelo Russell and Anthony Davis both mentioned postgame.
The Lakers led 37-28 at the end of the first quarter and 68-62 going into halftime but allowed the Nets to outscore them 68-44 in the second half. Brooklyn scored 102 points in the final three quarters.
“They throw a lineup out there that’s very versatile,” Russell said. “If you don’t communicate, they’ll take advantage of it from slips and screens and obviously (Nets coach) Jacque Vaughn’s a hell of a coach. He’s drawing up sets and putting them in position to take advantage of any miscommunication or mishap on our end. That’s what they did (Friday), they took advantage of it.”
Added Davis: “Just a lot of miscommunication. When we’re supposed to go over screen, we went under some. We score and then they come right back and get a wide-open layup in transition, which doesn’t make sense. Some miscommunication where we’re helping probably when we shouldn’t, the coverage is kind of messed up and they’re swinging the ball and guys are getting
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