New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Amateur has a big decision to make after Tour victory
Nick Dunlap already was a member of a pretty exclusive club as one of only two golfers in history to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur. The other? Some guy named Tiger Woods.
But on Sunday, Dunlap did something that only six golfers had done since 1945 by winning a PGA Tour event - in this case, the American Express - as an amateur. Dunlap, a sophomore at Alabama, became the first amateur winner on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson won the 1991 Tucson Open.
Even though amateurs rarely win on the PGA Tour — Dunlap, Mickelson and Scott Verplank at the 1985 Western Open are the only three to do so since 1957 — the tour has rules in place to address what happens next for the 20-year-old.
For starters, Dunlap now can decide to turn pro at any point this season, and should he do so, he will have his tour card through the 2026 season. If he decides not to turn pro during the season, he has 30 days after the end of the season to decide whether to turn pro for the 2025 season. And if he remains an amateur after that, he must wait until after the 2025 season to decide about 2026. No matter when he turns pro, his tour privileges only run through 2026.
Still, Dunlap could remain an amateur and play in a good number of professional events. As a winning nonmember of the PGA Tour, he can play in up to 12 full-field events this season plus the Players Championship in March. If he remains an amateur, Dunlap would not be eligible for the PGA Tour’s eight Signature Events, which are limitedfield
tournaments reserved for full PGA Tour members.
But Dunlap already had earned a spot in this year’s Masters, U.S. Open and British Open by virtue of his win at last year’s U.S. Amateur. If he decides to turn professional, he would lose his spot in the British Open - he could still qualify via other routes - but would gain a berth in the PGA Championship by virtue of his win at the American Express.
Dunlap said Sunday that he had not decided about his next step, though he will play in the next PGA Tour event on the schedule, this week’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California.
“I have no idea, I really don’t,” Dunlap said. “It’s really cool to have that opportunity in the first place. Starting the week, if you would have said, ‘Hey, in five days you’re going to have a PGA Tour card, or an opportunity for two years,’ I would have looked at you sideways. But that’s something that
it doesn’t just affect me. It affects a lot of people — [Alabama Coach Jay Seawell] back there, and my teammates — and it’s a conversation I need to have with a lot of people before I make that decision.”
As an amateur, Dunlap did not receive any prize money for his victory. Instead, the $1.5 million first-place reward went to Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who finished a stroke behind Dunlap, with the rest of the purse similarly bumped down a spot. Dunlap also did not receive the 500 FedEx Cup points awarded to a tournament winner. Those points will go unallocated, with Bezuidenhout earning the 300 points normally awarded to a second-place finisher (Dunlap will not be awarded the points retroactively if he decides to turn pro).
One thing is for certain: Dunlap still has college homework that he brought with him to the tournament.
“Probably won’t do it, though,” he said after his historic victory Sunday.