AUGUSTA, Ga. — Nick Dunlap was going through it on Thursday at the Masters.
Dunlap, already a two-time PGA Tour winner at the age of 21, shot an 18-over 90 in the first round at Augusta National. An 18-over 90. In the Masters.
One silver lining for Dunlap—his 90, which featured nines of 43 and 47, is not the highest score in Masters history. That unfortunate “record” belongs to Charles Kunkle Jr., who shot a final-round 95 in 1956. And there was also the time Billy Casper shot a 105 at the 2005 Masters (at age 70), but didn’t sign his scorecard so the round wasn’t official.
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That’s not going to make Dunlap feel much better, though. Especially considering this was his sophomore appearance in this tournament. He missed the cut in his debut last year, shooting rounds of 77 and 72 but gaining valuable experience. That did not do him much good on Thursday, when he began the day with bogeys on three of his first four holes and then made a triple-bogey seven at the difficult par-4 fifth.
He followed with three pars to seemingly settle in, but bogeyed nine and then made back-to-back doubles at 11 and 12. Two more bogeys came on 13 and 14, and then he finished double bogey-bogey-double bogey on 16, 17 and 18 for the big 9-0.
Reminder: This is a 21-year-old who has won the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Amateur as well as two tour events, the first of which came when he was still an amateur, making him the first golfer to accomplish that feat since Phil Mickelson did it at the Nothern Telecom Open in 1991. This is, by all accounts, a rising star in the game.
But Dunlap has rather rapidly fallen on hard times, missing his last three cuts and shooting a pair of 80s, one at Bay Hill and another at the Players. Perhaps the most shocking part of Dunlap’s nightmare opening round is that it did not include a three-putt, indicating there is some serious swing issues going on.
This has to be one of most unbelievable stats in Masters history.
Nick Dunlap didn’t have a three-putt, averaged 1.83 putts per hole and shot 90. pic.twitter.com/KxLs2J6S2u
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) April 10, 2025
Not surprisingly, Dunlap’s score is by far the worst of the day, the next closest being seven over.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
