A year ago, Nick Dunlap delivered a brilliant performance and won the US Amateur in Cherry Hills against Neal Shipley.

At the FedEx St. Jude Championship on Saturday, Dunlap hit a shot so bad that he completely missed a lake to the right of the par-4 12th hole.

Normally, this would not indicate a positive development for a golfer, but for Dunlap it was completely wrong and his play on the 12th hole was proof of that.

Dunlap knew his tee shot on the 350-yard par 4 was off even before he looked up and saw where the ball was going. He immediately dropped the club when his eyes confirmed what the ball had told him.

In frustration, he snapped his right wrist.

“I almost missed the ball completely off the tee,” Dunlap said after his round. “My right hand slipped off the club a little bit and I thought it was out.”

It somehow wasn’t. In fact, Dunlap’s ball landed in a spot he admitted he didn’t even know existed at TPC Southwind. The ball completely cleared the lake that runs along the short dogleg to the right and landed on dry land, unbeknownst to spectators watching from the shore.

The lake was more than 180 feet wide. Dunlap missed his target by almost 250 feet.

“To be honest, I didn’t know there was grass there. I thought there were houses,” he said.

Dunlap’s tee shot was so bad it was good, but that didn’t mean he got off scot-free. The 20-year-old, who turned pro in January after becoming the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour in more than three decades, had to hit a second shot back across the lake, around a tree and a hospitality tent to reach the green.

After extricating himself from the hospitality tent – from where NBC analyst Smylie Kaufman was commenting on the shot – Dunlap was fortunately able to hit his ball left back toward the water, but away from the overhanging branches.

The next problem was determining the yardage. There were no sprinkler heads on the other side of the lake and going back to the other side would have taken too much time. This led to a bizarre scene in which Dunlap’s caddie, Hunter Hamrick, shouted across the lake to Ted Scott, the caddie of his playing partner, Scottie Scheffler, to read them the sprinkler heads. Scott complied, which is fine under the rules, but is rarely seen on tour.

Finally, Dunlap, with his feet well under the ball and standing above the penalty area line on the lake shore, hit a wedge over the water, but this one also did not go as planned.

“Foreground!”

He pulled his approach and watched as the ball sailed far left into the gallery and hit a left pin on the short side.

“The Dunlap adventure at 12 continues here at TPC Southwind,” said NBC’s Dan Hicks.

This was the Dunlap who struggled to adjust to a sudden change in his life on the PGA Tour. After winning the American Express in January, Dunlap forwent his final two and a half years of college at Alabama and turned pro to accept his automatic membership on the PGA Tour.

He made his professional debut two weeks after his breakthrough win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, finishing 80th in the 80-player no-cut event. Things didn’t get much better, as by July he had missed five cuts, including the first three majors of the year, and had failed to qualify for the fourth, the Open Championship. He also finished in the top 10 just once.

Then his game finally showed up again. He won the Barracuda Championship, played across the street from the Open, and credited his hobby with making him feel at home on the road. Although he didn’t get FedEx Cup points for his first win, Dunlap catapulted into the top 70 and secured a spot in the first event of the playoffs this week.

He’s making the most of it this week, as when he played the 12th hole he was 12 under par and in sole second place, two shots behind Hideki Matsuyama. And he didn’t let the 12th hole throw him off track.

From the wrong side of the gallery ropes, Dunlap hit his chip into a slope in front of the green and watched as the ball bounced onto the green and rolled just three feet.

He sank the putt for par. When his caddy put the flag back on and looked Hamrick in the eyes, he was beaming from ear to ear.

“You’ll never believe he got 4!” said Hicks.

Funny, because Dunlap still says it’s hard to believe he’s even in this position. After finishing his third round of 66 that put him at 12 under par, in sole second place and five shots behind Matsuyama, he reminded reporters that if he hadn’t won in January, he would be in Minnesota this week defending his U.S. Amateur title.

“I was supposed to play in the US Am this week and just played a round of golf with Scottie. It was pretty cool,” he said. “If I don’t win Amex, I have no status. I think Luke Clanton did it and got second. You get two points, a crazy week, get some NILs and keep going. But yeah, it’s definitely a pinch-hitter almost every week.”

If he can hold on to second place or even catch Matsuyama, he will have virtually secured a spot in the Tour Championship after entering the playoffs as a sideline just four weeks ago.

While he has no desire to end his season this week, that doesn’t mean he isn’t ready for some rest and reflection on what may be the biggest whirlwind of his life.

“I’m really looking forward to taking a little break and reflecting on the year, sitting back, celebrating and looking back at some of the things that happened this year,” Dunlap said. “It’s really incredible and I never thought I’d be standing here.”

“But I’m very lucky and yes, hopefully I can look back in a few weeks.”

Jack Hirsh

Golf.com Publisher

Jack Hirsh is an assistant editor at GOLF. Jack is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Penn State University in 2020 with a degree in broadcast journalism and political science. He was captain of his high school golf team and recently returned to the program as head coach. Jack also continues to try to stay competitive in local amateurs. Before joining GOLF, Jack worked for two years at a television station in Bend, Oregon, primarily as a multimedia journalist/reporter, but also as a producer, anchor, and even a weather reporter. You can reach him at [email protected].