20-year-old wins PGA Tour event, but he won’t receive the $1.5M prize
The 20-year-old won the PGA Tour event but will not take home the $1.5 million top prize.
On Sunday, he won the 72-hole American Express Tour, beating South African professional Christian Bezuidenhout by 29 points. The 20-year-old became the first amateur golfer to win on the PGA Tour in 33 years and the youngest winner since 1910, but Bezuidenhaut, 29, took home the $1,512 prize. take him home
This is because PGA regulations prohibit amateur golfers from receiving prize money. This means that the prize money goes to the professional in second place. All three players tied for third will receive the same salary as the players tied for second.
“It was great to be able to come out here and experience it as an amateur,” Dunlap said after the tournament. “If you had told me that whether I made or missed that [last shot], I would win this golf tournament on Wednesday night, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
The last amateur to take the top spot was Phil Mickelson, who was 20 at the Tucson Open in 1991. The pro has now won 45 PGA Tour events, including six major championships. After Sunday’s show, Mickelson invited Dunlap to the X, saying, “This is just the beginning.”
An impressive performance by Nick Dunlap. Congratulations on your big win. This is just the beginning 👍👍
And it probably is, as the Alabama golfer is being compared to Tiger Woods. Woods and Dunlap are the only golfers to win the U.S. Junior Amateur and U.S. Amateur titles. Now the new champion must decide what to do. That’s because his win will garner a lot of attention from sponsors and PGA Tour cards before he decides to turn pro until 2026. He can also join this year’s tour and participate in the remaining events of the season to have the chance to win seven $20 million prizes. But he’s still wondering whether to finish school or pursue a career in sports. He said he decided to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open, which begins Wednesday, so he can return to Alabama with family, friends and teammates starting Monday.