PGA Tour's newest superstar won't see a penny of £1.2m bonus for winning
Nick Dunlap became the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour in 33 years at The American Express, but will miss out on the huge winner's cheque despite his historic achievement.
Dunlap, 20, is a second-year student at the University of Alabama and has become the second youngest amateur Tour winner since 1900. In winning on the Tour before turning professional, he follows in the footsteps of Phil Mickelson, who won the 1991 Northern Telecom Open while still a third-year student at Arizona State University.
But as his fellow American found three decades ago, Dunlap will not see a penny of the £1.18 million prize money the AmEx winner would ordinarily earn. Instead, South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout banks more than a million for finishing as runner-up in La Quinta, California.
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As an amateur, Dunlap does not earn prize money or the 500 FedEx Cup points a winner would ordinarily receive. Even turning pro immediately after holing his six-foot par putt to win would not have changed that.
Instead, the prize money moves down the field, with Chun An Yu, Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele remunerated as if they finished in a three-way tie for second rather than third. Despite missing out on the cheque, Dunlap did not commit to turning pro after the win.
“I don’t know,” he said in an interview with PGA TOUR Radio. “I have to take a second to let what just happened sink in a little bit.
Dunlap did not let the lack of prize money dampen his celebrations in California (Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)"That’s a decision that’s not just about me. It affects a lot of people, and obviously, I’m going to try to enjoy this. It’s a conversation I need to have with a lot of people before I make that decision.”
With the win, he can become a PGA Tour member at any stage this season and is exempt into this year's Players Championship. Dunlap also earned a two-year exemption to the Tour, which runs until the end of the 2026 season.
Turning pro would see him have an exemption into the Masters and the PGA Championship. That also includes all of the remaining signature events this season.
However, as the reigning US Amateur champion, Dunlap already has exemptions into the Masters, US Open and The Open, the latter of which is contingent on him remaining amateur. He also won the US Junior Amateur Championship in 2021. Only Tiger Woods has previously won both amateur championships.
"It's so cool to be experiencing this as an amateur," Dunlap said during an on-course interview straight afterwards. "Whether I made or missed that (six-foot par putt), if you had told me come Wednesday night that I had a putt to win this tournament, I wouldn't have believed you."
Mickelson led the tributes on social media. "Such an impressive performance by Nick Dunlap. Congratulations on an incredible win. This is just the beginning," he posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to [email protected]
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