Dunlap wins PGA Tour First amateur champion in 33 years
Kim Si-woo, Im Seong-jae, and Lee Gyeong-hoon tied for 25th place.
Nick Dunlap wins on the PGA Tour as an amateur
An amateur winner was born on the PGA Tour for the first time in 33 years.
Nick Dunlap (20, USA), a sophomore at the University of Alabama, made a double bogey in the 4th round of the PGA Tour American Express (total prize money of $8.4 million) held at the Pete Dye Stadium Course (par 72) in La Quinta, California on the 22nd (Korean time). Although he made one shot, he made up for it with four birdies and recorded a 2-under par score of 70.
Dunlap, who hit a total of 29 under par, 259 strokes, won by one stroke over Christian Bejawidenhout (South Africa, 28 under par, 260 strokes).
Dunlap became the first player to reach the top in a professional competition in 33 years since Phil Mickelson (USA), who won the 1991 PGA Tour Tucson Open as an amateur.
Dunlap, who won the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship last year and participated in the American Express as an invited player, did not receive the championship prize, but secured a two-year ticket to the PGA Tour.
The runner-up, a professional athlete, will receive the winning prize of 1.512 million dollars (about 2.01 billion won).
Dunlap, who started the final round with a three-stroke lead, seemed to miss out on the win as he was overtaken by Sam Burns (USA) after the halfway point.
Dunlap, who rose to a joint lead with Burns again with a birdie on the 16th hole (par 5), came close to winning due to Burns’ crucial mistake.
Burns, who has five wins on the PGA Tour, holed out with a double bogey at the 17th hole (par 3) after dropping his tee shot into the water.
Burns was eliminated from the championship race, but Bejawidenhout finished first after trailing by one stroke.
Dunlap faced a crisis in the 18th hole (par 4) when his tee shot was shaken and he hit the ball on the green after only the third shot.If he lost one stroke on the last hole, he would be sent to a playoff.
However, Dunlap enjoyed the joy of winning by successfully making a par putt from a distance of 1.7m.
Burns was unable to make up for his mistake in the 17th hole and fell to a tie for 6th place (25 under par, 263 strokes).
Kim Si-woo, the winner of this tournament in 2021, reduced 5 strokes by the 15th hole and looked to enter the top 10 for the first time in the season.However, after making a bogey on the 16th hole, he lost a whopping 4 strokes on the 17th hole, and ended up finishing the tournament with a total of 19 under par, 269 strokes, and a tie for 25th place.
Seongjae Lim and Gyeonghoon Lee also recorded 269 strokes at 19 under par and tied for 25th place with Siwoo Kim. 스포츠토토맨
