Nick Dunlap is a name that golf fans are going to hear a lot of going forward. On Sunday, he made history by becoming the first amateur on the PGA Tour to win an event since Phil Mickelson in 1991. Dunlap won the American Express in La Quinta, California, by one shot over Christiaan Bezuidenhout as Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Yu all tied for third. It was quite the scene, and Dunlap had a ton of emotions following the historic victory (h/t Greg Beachem of The Associated Press).
“Nothing like I’ve ever felt. It was so cool to be out here and experience this as an amateur. Whether I had made that or missed that (last putt), if you would have told me (on) Wednesday night I would have a putt to win this golf tournament, I wouldn’t believe you.”
Dunlap also expressed his gratitude and mentioned how it felt to see all the support he had gotten during the event and how special it was to see all the fans (h/t John Schwarb of SI).
“I learned so much today, and I'm so grateful to be here. The support out here, it's been so cool, and to see some of the people root for me was really special.”
Nick Dunlap, a sophomore student from the University of Alabama, now added his name to the golf history books. He joins Tiger Woods as the only two to win both the U.S. Amateur and the U.S. Junior Amateur, and that's quite an accomplishment.