What do you do after recording one of the worst first-round scores ever at the Masters? Nick Dunlap had no hope of making the cut after shooting an 18-over-par 90 on Thursday. He briefly thought about quitting the tournament. He hit hit dozens of balls into the woods behind his Airbnb.
And then, somehow, the 21-year-old American delivered a near-historic turnaround on Friday, improving his score by 19 shots to finish one-under-par in the second round.
Though he missed the cut and finished 17-over across the two days, such an improvement was the biggest round-to-round turnaround at the Masters since 1936, and joint-biggest in any major in the past 50 years, according to ESPN.
Dunlap, who is considered one of the sport’s hottest prospects after his achievements as a junior rivalled those of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, was still left disappointed and frustrated after his tournament.
“(There’s) about the same (emotions as last round),” he told reporters afterward.
“It’s frustrating. There’s a lot of anger. It’s hard to put everything you have into something and feel like you’re not getting any better. But, yeah, show up today, gave it all I got and posted something under par.”
Despite recording a round under par, Dunlap’s struggles haven’t magically disappeared. He still visibly struggled with his driver, mostly choosing to use a 3-wood off the tee on Friday, compromising distance for accuracy.
Still, he managed to hit four birdies and avoid any bogeys until late on when he bogied the 16th, 17th and 18th holes.
“I had more of a knot in my stomach today than I’ve ever had starting a round of golf, he said. “So, I definitely can learn something from that, but it’s not a position that I ever want to be in again.”
Problems have crept into Dunlap’s game since the Hero World Challenge in December, he said, and “continually gotten worse.”
Although he won two PGA Tour titles last season, including the first win by an amateur since 1991, he has failed to make the cut at his first six majors since turning professional.
The dizzying highs and lows of his career so far have been “extremely rewarding and extremely humbling and frustrating at the same time,” he said.
“I think professional golf is a very – can be a very lonely place, especially when you’re playing poorly. But it’s been a lot of fun. You get to travel to a lot of historic and unbelievable places like this one.”
He will next play at RBC Heritage on April 17.
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