Nick Dunlap defeated Christiaan Bezuidenhout by a single stroke at The American Express on Sunday to become the first amateur winner on the PGA TOUR in thirty-three years.
Gibbons, the head professional of Birmingham, Alabama’s Greystone Golf & Country Club, was receiving grievances. Not even a teenager at the time, Dunlap continued to dominate every member of the club.
“Men were becoming incredibly irritated. They objected to him participating in competitions. They always anticipated his victory. I had to stop him from playing.” Gibbons said.
Jon Gibbons had to stop Nick Dunlap at one point.
The current U.S. Amateur champion, Dunlap, 20, of the University of Alabama, is the first amateur winner since Phil Mickelson in the 1991 Northern Telecom Open.
He’s the third amateur winner of a TOUR event since 1957 and only the seventh since 1945. Dunlap also made history by becoming the youngest amateur to win on the Tour since 1910 in just his fourth start.
In the competition that has long been known as the Bob Hope Desert Classic, Dunlap was the only amateur among the 156 players, yet he quickly opened up a 3-shot lead with a scorching 60 in Round 3. On Sunday, he gave up the lead on the front nine of the Stadium Course at PGA WEST, but he played with the fortitude of an accomplished veteran in the closing holes, highlighted by his par-putting performance of 6 feet on the 18th hole after two mishit drives. He finished with a 2-under-70. He shattered the tournament scoring record in a 72-hole event with a score of 29-under 259.
In order to maintain pressure on Dunlap, whose tee shot ended up high in the rough, Bezuidenhout birdied the 18th hole in the group ahead. Though not much more precise, his second shot had a lucky roll over the rough into a grassy drainage area off the green.
“I was aware of his capability. He could do it, I knew that. With four or five holes left to play, it appeared hopeless, but that was Dunlap time. That’s what he does at home. He’s done it his whole life and he did it out here on the PGA TOUR today, too.” Jay Seawell, Dunlap’s coach at Alabama, said
For Dr. Bhrett McCabe, Dunlap was the child who would not go. Greystone member McCabe recalls Dunlap, who was perhaps ten years old at the time, coming to the clubhouse every day on his bike. Dunlap would hit balls all day and would only leave to go home after the course closed for the evening. Still, his work was not finished. Dunlap’s family resided just 100 yards away from Greystone’s 6th hole, a lengthy, steep par 5. Dunlap would hit wedges on the fairway in the evenings.
But for years, those close to Dunlap have witnessed glimpses of his extraordinary potential.
Dunlap’s parents and fiancée, who travelled across the nation on Saturday to watch in person, gave him hugs when he made the par putt that won the championship. Dunlap’s third shot put him inside 6 feet.
Dunlap loses out on the $1.5 million first-place prize that Bezuidenhout receives following the South African’s 65 in the final round.
