He hit a shot so dangerous, it missed a lake. He is nonetheless in second place

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 dangerous, it missed a lake to the proper of the par-4 twelfth solely.

Usually, that wouldn’t counsel 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 informed him.

He snapped his proper wrist in frustration.

“I nearly missed the ball utterly on the tee,” Dunlap stated after his spherical. “My proper hand slipped off the membership a bit bit, and I assumed it was out of bounds.”

It one way or the other wasn’t. Actually, Dunlap’s ball was in a spot he admitted he didn’t even know existed at TPC Southwind. The ball utterly cleared the lake that runs alongside the quick dogleg proper and made it dry land, even unbeknownst to the spectators watching from the financial institution.

The lake was greater than 60 yards vast. Dunlap missed his goal by practically 80 yards.

“I didn’t even know there was grass over there, to be sincere with you. I assumed it was homes,” he stated.

Dunlap’s tee shot was so dangerous that it was good, however that didn’t imply he acquired out of the state of affairs scot-free. The 20-year-old, who turned professional in January after turning into the primary newbie to win on the PGA Tour in additional than three many years, nonetheless needed to navigate a second shot again over the lake, round a tree and a hospitality tent to achieve the inexperienced.

After taking reduction from the hospitality tent — the place NBC Analyst Smylie Kaufman selected to name the shot from — Dunlap, happily, 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 aspect of the lake and strolling again to the opposite aspect would take an excessive amount of time. That led to a weird sequence with Dunlap’s caddie, Hunter Hamrick, shouting throughout the lake to enjoying accomplice 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 beneath the foundations, however hardly ever seen on Tour.

Lastly, together with his toes properly beneath 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 supposed 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 Specific in January, Dunlap forwent his closing two and half years of faculty at Alabama and turned professional to just accept his computerized 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.

Then lastly, his recreation confirmed up once more. He gained the Barracuda Championship, performed reverse the Open, crediting selecting up a passion for serving to him really feel at dwelling 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 benefiting from that this week as on the time he performed the twelfth gap, he was 12 beneath 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 aspect of the gallery ropes, Dunlap bumped his chip right into a slope wanting the inexperienced and watched it pitch onto the inexperienced and roll out to only 4 toes.

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 imagine it!” Hicks stated.

Humorous, as a result of Dunlap nonetheless says it’s arduous to imagine he’s even on this place. After he completed off his third-round 66 that noticed him end at 12 beneath, 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.

“I needs to be enjoying the U.S. Am this week, and I simply acquired completed enjoying 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 feel Luke Clanton did it, and he completed second. You get two factors, heck of per week, get some NIL out of it and transfer on. However yeah, it’s positively pinch-me nearly each week.”

Ought to he cling 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 want to finish his season this week, that doesn’t imply he’s not prepared for some relaxation and reflection on what’s doubtless been the most important whirlwind of his life.

“I’m truthfully trying ahead to a bit little bit of a break and to sort of recap the yr and sit again and have a good time and look again on a number of 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 just a few extra weeks.”

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Editor

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. A Pennsylvania native, Jack is a 2020 graduate of Penn State College, incomes levels in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his highschool golf workforce and lately returned to this system to function head coach. Jack additionally nonetheless *tries* to stay aggressive in native amateurs. Earlier than becoming a member of GOLF, Jack spent two years working at a TV station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a Multimedia Journalist/reporter, but additionally producing, anchoring and even presenting the climate. He could be reached at jack.hirsh@golf.com.