Nick Dunlap Among The Stars At Bay Hill And Playing As A Single – News18

ORLANDO, Fla.: Nick Dunlap completed in slightly below 4 hours on the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Thursday, which might have made it appear to be some other spherical at Bay Hill with one exception.

He was enjoying alone. He had the primary tee time. The complete course was in entrance of him. The solely firm he stored was his caddie.

“A little weird,” Dunlap stated with a smile after a birdie-birdie end led to an excellent-par 72.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a signature occasion, which together with a $20 million purse has a small discipline comprised of solely the highest gamers and people with latest good play. That would have added to 70 for Bay Hill, besides Tony Finau selected to not play.

And with PGA Tour pledging to make use of twosomes for signature occasions, a 69-man discipline meant one participant needed to go off by himself. That’s common on the weekend within the Eastern time zone, when an odd-variety of gamers make the lower.

But the primary spherical?

Dunlap didn’t appear to thoughts. He discovered himself enjoying extra intentionally than regular. When he first stepped on the tee on the par-3 second — his caddie a couple of paces behind him — it was simply over two minutes earlier than he hit his shot. He used that point to determine the wind and different elements. It’s sometimes the toughest par 3 on the course.

“I still stuck to my routine,” he stated. “A couple of times if we didn’t know what the wind was going to do or it was a difficult putt, we were able to take a little more time.”

Friday is perhaps harder. Seventeen twosomes can be in entrance of him, and Dunlap can be in the course of the sector on his personal.

But then, Dunlap has a distinct perspective than most at Bay Hill. Only two months in the past, the U.S. Amateur champion was a 20-12 months-outdated sophomore at Alabama when he received The American Express, the primary newbie in 33 years to win on the PGA Tour. A large a part of him is simply blissful to be right here, enjoying for $20 million purses seven occasions this season.

“Honestly, to put it in perspective, I was playing foursomes in college,” he stated. “And it’s a lot better playing as a single.”

There normally is an possibility for a single to play with a non-competing marker — it’s obligatory on the Masters — besides the PGA Tour is shifting away from that. Dunlap stated he actually didn’t have the choice of getting a head professional or newbie play with him, and he didn’t essentially need one.

And this wasn’t a random choice to place him out first. Dunlap was the one participant in his class (present season PGA Tour winners), so he was the one. The different winners this 12 months had been eligible via the present FedEx Cup listing.

Oddly sufficient, Dunlap did play with a non-competing marker at The American Express, however solely as a result of it was a professional-am format and the opposite tour professional, Wilson Furr, needed to withdraw. Someone needed to fill in because the newbie’s associate.

Dunlap shot 60 that day, and carried that to a stunning PGA Tour win.

Bay Hill is not any La Quinta, nonetheless. This is among the stronger checks on the PGA Tour. Dunlap stated the additional time he had over photographs got here in helpful.

What didn’t assist was the beginning. His tee shot did not clear the water on No. 3. After a drop, his 6-iron hit off the rocks and into the water. Another drop. He did effectively to flee with triple bogey, after which wanted to regroup whereas enjoying as a single.

“When you’re playing well, it can be beneficial,” he stated. “It’s a little more difficult when I got off to a tough start. You had to slow yourself down.”

He managed effectively, going out in 40 and coming again for a 72, a decent rating at Bay Hill. Another good spherical and he received’t need to play as a single on Saturday.

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)