Pro details on the ‘whirlwind’ journey from college to the Tiger tour

“I’ve never been to the Bahamas.”

“I have never seen water so green.”

This is just the latest PGA Tour debut news Nick Dunlap has experienced in what has been a whirlwind year for the rising star, a year unlike any other in golf history.

As recently as eight months ago, Dunlap was a sophomore on the University of Alabama golf team. Now the two-time PGA Tour champion is about to play for the first time in Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, along with 19 of the best golfers in the world.

“It’s very special,” Dunlap said Tuesday at a press conference before the Warriors. “Eight months ago I was sitting at the table with all my teammates playing college golf. The world came to me quickly.”

Of course, Dunlap’s incredible journey to this moment began even before he left Alabama. In January, Dunlap played the PGA Tour’s American Express event as a freshman, earning a sponsor’s exemption for winning the 2023 US Amateur.

It was his fourth PGA Tour start. And he won.

While Tiger holds three US Amateur titles to Dunlap’s lead, Woods has never won his first PGA Tour title as a rookie. In fact, no one has since Phil Mickelson did it back in 1991.

Originally hoping to make the Tour in 2025 with PGA Tour University, American Express quickly won those plans, and he became a champion soon after. But it took some time for Dunlap to adjust to his new life following his meteoric rise.

“Those first two or three months, I mean, I didn’t really know where to go, what to expect, all the golf courses were new,” Dunlap explained Tuesday.

Another thing to add to his growing list of “new” experiences in 2024? Suddenly playing alongside the Tour pros he watched and loved as a kid.

“I grew up, and I still do, looking up to a lot of these guys and them – for me to watch them on TV and immediately for them to be my age was a new thing.”

The rigorous nature of PGA Tour life also took an adjustment.

“I think at the beginning of the year it was very little. The media, it was loud, social media was loud. It took me half a year to figure it out. “First of the year I was always looking to the future,” Dunlap explained. “In the middle of the year it took me to where I always wanted to be, I’m there — I’m 20 years old and I’m fulfilling my dream. When I saw that, I started to have more fun and live in the moment and play each tournament as it should and enjoy being there. “

But his record shows that it didn’t take him long to adapt to the rigors of the Tour. In July, Dunlap won the Barracuda Championship to earn his second PGA Tour win.

Dunlap was a member of the team that won the 2023 US Walker Cup, which competed and won in St. Andrews last year. But thanks to a hot start to his professional career, he is now eyeing a different club event: the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

“It’s one I’d like to be a part of,” Dunlap admitted to Warrior reporters. “I’m around it and I’m trying everything I can to get into that group.”

Although Dunlap will be competing against a number of Tour stars he grew up watching live on television this week, Woods is not one of them. At just 20 years old, Dunlap is too young to catch Tiger in his prime. But that doesn’t mean he’s not used to it. As is the case with many young golfers today, you still see a lot of Tiger’s beauty on YouTube.

“Yes, I’m young, but I really remember [Tiger in his prime]I saw the highlights. “I grew up watching everyone else do YouTube videos and all of their records that will never be reached, never caught,” said Dunlap. “Sharing a little history with him is very humbling. But no, just sitting here in his tournament and being in the Bahamas when I’m supposed to be a junior in college is unbelievable and I don’t take that lightly.”

And in case it wasn’t clear, Dunlap confirmed on Tuesday that despite everything he’s accomplished in the past year, the “amazing aspect” of how far he’s come in such a short amount of time hasn’t worn off.

“Even going to the golf courses sometimes, I should have gone to a few tournaments when I was younger and kept moving up the ranks and hitting balls, the little kid in me is still there and there’s still a lot of it. sweet to me,” Dunlap explained. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m a competitor and I like to play very well, but no, there’s still that element of fear.”

Another downside to Dunlap’s 2024 campaign is that because he was a rookie with his American Express win, he didn’t get the big winner’s check of $1.512 million. But don’t worry about Nick, he still collected $720,000 for his Barracuda win and another $760,000 for finishing T5 in the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

And even if the pressure to play with his photos gets the best of him this week and he finishes last, Dunlap will still walk away with $150,000 and, possibly, a photo with Tiger Woods.

Not bad for a 20 year old.

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