Nick Dunlap made a 56-foot eagle putt and earned the second win of his rookie season at the Barracuda Championship on Sunday at Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, Calif.
Dunlap, 20, won The American Express as an amateur in January and turned pro one week later. That win didn’t qualify him for the Open Championship, so he played the PGA Tour’s lone Modified Stableford event this week and scored a total of 49 points.
Under Modified Stableford scoring, birdies are worth two points, eagles are worth five and albatrosses are worth eight. Each par is zero points, while bogeys are minus-1 point and double bogey or anything worse is worth minus-3.
Dunlap’s bogey-free, 9-under 62 in the final round featured seven birdies and one massive eagle, totaling 19 points. The eagle came at the par-5 15th, where he swept a right-to-left putt from across the green and watched it drop into the right side of the cup.
“After I made the putt on 15, we started playing through some serious adrenaline,” Dunlap said on the Golf Channel broadcast.
That single shot leapfrogged Dunlap over three players and into the outright lead, and his final birdie at the par-4 17th hole provided some much-needed insurance. Mac Meissner and Vince Whaley arrived at the par-4 18th behind Dunlap by four points, needing an eagle to win, and neither came close.
Dunlap is the first player to ever win on the PGA Tour as an amateur and a pro in the same season.
“Never even thought that was a possibility, to be honest with you,” Dunlap said. “I gotta thank my team. They’re so supportive. After Amex, kind of went through a little rough spell and they’ve always had my back and (caddie Hunter Hamrick has) been there the entire time and I’m very happy to be here.”
Whaley birdied the final hole to finish alone in second at plus-47. Patrick Fishburn placed third at plus-46, and Meissner, the 54-hole leader, only scored five points Sunday to slip into fourth at plus-44.
Patrick Rodgers and Canadian Taylor Pendrith tied for fifth at plus-43.
–Field Level Media
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