An amateur wins on the PGA Tour and is forced to give up a $1.5 million prize.

In a time when golf is all about money, Nick Dunlap has come to the rescue of romantic relationships. this sport. The 20-year-old American, still an amateur, won the American Express, the tournament Jon Rahm won last year, and became the first amateur golfer to win a tournament on the PGA Tour, the most prestigious circuit in the world. since 1991, when Phil Mickelson won the Northern Telecom Open.

His condition prevented him from receiving a check for $1.512 million., which went to second-ranked player Christian Besundeu, a stark contrast to the 180,000 that golf’s most famous left-hander had to give up 33 years ago. It’s more impressive to think that his predecessor on the winners list moved up to 600 million after a head-turning signing contract with LIV Golf, and for now he won’t take a penny. Ram himself congratulated him on X and predicted “a great future for this talent.”

The outcome seemed predetermined. Sam Burns one of the 12 American golfers who lost in Rome last fall in the Ryder Cup came to the easy 16th hole, the final par-5 of the tournament, with a one-stroke lead over Dunlap, and not only did he not take advantage of it, but he played. His team hit two hits in the next two matches, making two double bogeys to finish in sixth place.

Dunlap hitting the water on the 7th hole (double bogey)and who had seen Burns take three shots off him, he contented himself with making par on these last two holes to secure as historic a victory as possible.

Sophomore at the University of Alabama and winner of the US Amateur. – a tournament that Tiger Woods won four times – the protagonist gave his legend another notch: with 29 strokes under par, especially thanks to a stunning card of 60 strokes on Saturday, he broke the La Quinta (Calif.) tournament record with a score of 259, which one better than the South African Besundehout.

Purple for your victory

In third place were such eminent players as Justin Thomas., a double major and a student from Alabama while in college, and Xander Schauffele, an Olympian. Dunlap, however, was unable to break the track record because Jordan Spieth, who missed the stage in the auditorium, won the 2013 John Deere Classic at 19 years old.

“I was not entitled to receive a check, but it was a privilege to be here. and get the support of so many audiences. Being able to show that amateur golf is really good too is something unique. But I admit, I’m still in shock. “I’ve never seen so many cameras and so many journalists on the grass,” said the new sensation, who already won important age tournaments at the age of 11 and 12.

Only one other amateur player, Scott Verplank, at the 1986 Western Open previously won on the PGA Tour in the last 68 years. The other five golfers – Fred Haas, Cary Middlecoff, Frank Stranahan (twice), Gene Littler and Doug Sanders – did so between 1945 and 1956, before the emergence of Arnold Palmer, the promoter of modern golf as a spectacle.

The question that remains up in the air is how long LIV Golf will take.. It is likely that he is already on the radar of Mark Steinberg, the same agent as Tiger Woods, who will take him out of the jump.