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Nick Dunlap Turns Pro: ‘Easiest, Hardest Decision I’ve Ever Had to Make’

The college sophomore who made history by winning on the PGA Tour as an amateur will play as a pro next week at Pebble Beach.

Gabrielle Herzig

Nick Dunlap Turns Pro: ‘Easiest, Hardest Decision I’ve Ever Had to Make’
Nick Dunlap Turns Pro: ‘Easiest, Hardest Decision I’ve Ever Had to Make’ /

Nick Dunlap, the 20-year-old amateur who made history by winning the American Express last weekend has officially decided to turn professional. 

At PGA West, the Alabama sophomore became the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991—shooting 60 in the tournament’s penultimate round—and the feat gave him exempt Tour membership through 2026. 

With a spring college season for the Crimson Tide on the horizon, Dunlap had a life-changing decision to make: Turn professional after the conclusion of NCAAs or get to work on Tour immediately. After his emotional victory, Dunlap withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open—which he was set to play on a sponsors exemption while still an amateur—to deliberate on his future with his friends and family at home in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Speaking from a press conference Thursday at Alabama, Dunlap revealed his choice to join the PGA Tour. 

“A week ago today, if you told me I’d have the opportunity to live out my dream as a 20-year-old—it’s pretty surreal. But it’s also scary, there’s a lot of changes,” Dunlap said. “It was the easiest, hardest decision I’ve ever had to make, by far.”

According to a PGA Tour press release, Dunlap will make his professional debut at next week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, one of the Tour’s eight big-money signature events of 2024, which boasts a $20 million purse. Dunlap is exempt into all signature events due to his win at the American Express. 

The rookie will also be teeing it up in three of the four major championships: the Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open. As the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, Dunlap had already earned exemptions into the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. However, the USGA is the only major organization that allows amateurs to use such exemptions even after turning professional. As a PGA Tour winner, Dunlap is now exempt into the Masters and PGA Championship. He will have the opportunity to qualify for the British Open at Royal Troon via world ranking. 

Dunlap is currently ranked No. 68, and the top 50 players qualify for the Open. After his win, the Huntsville, Ala., native jumped 4,061 places in the rankings—the largest move in OWGR history. 

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Gabrielle Herzig
GABRIELLE HERZIG

Gabrielle Herzig is a Breaking and Trending News writer for Sports Illustrated Golf. Previously, she worked as a Golf Digest Contributing Editor, an NBC Sports Digital Editorial Intern, and a Production Runner for FOX Sports at the site of the 2018 U.S. Open. Gabrielle graduated as a Politics Major from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she was a four-year member and senior-year captain of the Pomona-Pitzer women’s golf team. In her junior year, Gabrielle studied abroad in Scotland for three months, where she explored the Home of Golf by joining the Edinburgh University Golf Club.

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