Nick Dunlap missed a lake solely together with his tee shot on No. 12.
PGA Tour/Getty Photographs
A yr in the past, Nick Dunlap was placing on a clinic by successful the U.S. Newbie over Neal Shipley at Cherry Hills.
Saturday on the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Dunlap hit a shot so unhealthy, it missed a lake to the appropriate of the par-4 twelfth solely.
Usually, that wouldn’t recommend a optimistic pattern for a golfer, however that couldn’t be farther from the reality for Dunlap and the way he performed the twelfth gap was proof of it.
Dunlap knew his tee shot on the 388-yard par-4 was no good even earlier than his eyes got here as much as see the place it was headed. He instantly dropped the membership as his eyes confirmed what the strike of the ball instructed him.
He snapped his proper wrist in frustration.
“I nearly missed the ball fully on the tee,” Dunlap stated after his spherical. “My proper hand slipped off the membership just a little bit, and I assumed it was out of bounds.”
It someway wasn’t. The truth is, Dunlap’s ball was in a spot he admitted he didn’t even know existed at TPC Southwind. The ball fully cleared the lake that runs alongside the brief dogleg proper and made it dry land, even unbeknownst to the spectators watching from the financial institution.
The lake was greater than 60 yards extensive. Dunlap missed his goal by almost 80 yards.
“I didn’t even know there was grass over there, to be sincere with you. I assumed it was homes,” he stated.
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Dunlap’s tee shot was so unhealthy that it was good, however that didn’t imply he acquired out of the scenario scot-free. The 20-year-old, who turned professional in January after turning into the primary novice to win on the PGA Tour in additional than three a long time, nonetheless needed to navigate a second shot again over the lake, round a tree and a hospitality tent to succeed in the inexperienced.
After taking aid from the hospitality tent — the place NBC Analyst Smylie Kaufman selected to name the shot from — Dunlap, luckily, acquired to maneuver his ball left, again towards the water, however away from the overhanging tree branches.
The following problem was getting a yardage. There have been no sprinkler heads on the opposite facet of the lake and strolling again to the opposite facet would take an excessive amount of time. That led to a weird sequence with Dunlap’s caddie, Hunter Hamrick, shouting throughout the lake to taking part in companion Scottie Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, to ask Scott to learn off the sprinkler heads to them. Scott obliged and that’s kosher to do below the foundations, however hardly ever seen on Tour.
Lastly, together with his ft nicely under the ball and standing over the penalty space line on the financial institution of the lake, Dunlap smacked a wedge out over the water, solely this one wasn’t going as meant both.
“Fore!”
He pulled his method and watched it sail lengthy and left, into the gallery, short-sided to a left pin.
“The Dunlap journey at 12 continues right here at TPC Southwind,” stated NBC’s Dan Hicks.
This was the Dunlap who had struggled to regulate to a sudden change of life out on the PGA Tour. After successful the American Categorical in January, Dunlap forwent his ultimate two and half years of faculty at Alabama and turned professional to just accept his automated membership to the PGA Tour.
His first skilled begin got here two weeks after the breakthrough win on the AT&T Pebble Seaside Professional-Am. He completed eightieth within the 80-player, no-cut occasion. It didn’t get significantly better as by the point July rolled round, he had missed 5 cuts, together with the primary three majors of the yr and didn’t qualify for the fourth, the Open Championship, together with only one top-10.
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Then lastly, his sport confirmed up once more. He gained the Barracuda Championship, performed reverse the Open, crediting selecting up a pastime for serving to him really feel at house on the street. Together with his first win not incomes him any FedEx Cup factors, that catapulted Dunlap into the highest 70, reserving him a spot within the first occasion of the Playoffs this week.
He’s taking advantage of that this week as on the time he performed the twelfth gap, he was 12 below for the week and in solo second, two photographs behind Hideki Matsuyama. And he didn’t let the twelfth gap derail him.
From the fallacious facet of the gallery ropes, Dunlap bumped his chip right into a slope in need of the inexperienced and watched it pitch onto the inexperienced and roll out to only 4 ft.
He drained the putt for par. When his eyes met Hamrick’s as his caddie changed the flag, he grinned from ear to ear.
“How he made 4, you’d by no means consider it!” Hicks stated.
Humorous, as a result of Dunlap nonetheless says it’s onerous to consider he’s even on this place. After he completed off his third-round 66 that noticed him end at 12 below, solo second and 5 again of Matsuyama, he reminded reporters that had he not gained in January, he’d be in Minnesota this week, defending his U.S. Newbie title.
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“I needs to be taking part in the U.S. Am this week, and I simply acquired performed taking part in a spherical of golf with Scottie. It was fairly cool,” he stated. “[If I] don’t win Amex, I don’t have any standing. I believe Luke Clanton did it, and he completed second. You get two factors, heck of every week, get some NIL out of it and transfer on. However yeah, it’s undoubtedly pinch-me nearly each week.”
Ought to he grasp on to second and even chase down Matsuyama, he’d all however guarantee himself a spot within the Tour Championship after being an afterthought to make the playoffs simply 4 weeks in the past.
Whereas he has no need to finish his season this week, that doesn’t imply he’s not prepared for some relaxation and reflection on what’s probably been the most important whirlwind of his life.
“I’m truthfully wanting ahead to just a little little bit of a break and to sort of recap the yr and sit again and rejoice and look again on among the issues which have occurred this yr,” Dunlap stated. “It’s truthfully unbelievable, and I by no means would have thought I’d be standing right here.
“However I’m, I’m very lucky, and yeah, hopefully, I can look again in a couple of extra weeks.”
