Nick Dunlap was on the wrong side of history in the first round of the Masters on Thursday. But the former Alabama All-American came back for another go at Augusta National on Friday.
After shooting an 18-over-par 90 in the first round, Dunlap bounced back with a 1-under 71 in the second round.
In between, Dunlap took out his anger on a collection of golf balls rounded up by Clarke Holter, the athletic trainer for the Crimson Tide men’s basketball team.
“My trainer actually went to Target,” Dunlap said, “and got a bunch of — I probably hit 12 different kinds of golf balls from colors to brands to you name it. Doing a little ball testing. …
“I hit a couple buckets of balls at my Airbnb into the woods. I don’t know if there was any houses or anything back there. But you just hit a bunch of golf balls and — I had more of a knot in my stomach today than I’ve ever had starting a round of golf. Yeah, I definitely can learn something from that, but it’s certainly not a position that you ever want to be in again.”
In the first round, Dunlap had six pars, seven bogeys, four double-bogeys and one triple-bogey, and his score was Thursday’s worst by 11 strokes. The former Spain Park High School standout became the 11th player to fail to break 90 in the first round at the Masters and the first to shoot so high in a decade.
Dunlap said withdrawing from the tournament did cross his mind even though he knew making the cut was out of reach.
“But I would never let myself do that,” Dunlap said. “Never going to quit. I’ve never withdrawn from anything. I’ve never teed it up and not finished. I take pride in that, and that’s always how I’m going to be.”
In the second round, Dunlap had four birdies and 11 pars through 15 holes before bogeying each of the final three holes.
Had Dunlap come home in 4 under on Friday, he would have set a record for the biggest improvement from the first round to the second round at the Masters. Craig Wood went 21 shots lower in the second round than he had in the first at the 1936 Masters.
Dunlap still posted the greatest improvement from the first to the second round at a major tournament since Robin Davenport went from 94 to 72 at the 1966 British Open.
“It’s frustrating,” Dunlap said. “There’s a lot of anger, a lot of — it’s hard to put everything you have into something and feel like you’re not getting any better. But, yeah, showed up today, gave it all I got and posted something under par. …
“There’s always positives shooting under par, especially around here. But putted it nice. Hit some really good irons. I’ve just got to work some stuff out off the tee.”
The PGA Tour’s 2024 Rookie of the Year and already a two-time winner on the circuit, Dunlap made the cut at his first six tournaments this season. But since a 17th-place showing at the Genesis Invitational on Feb. 16, he had missed the cut three times in a row entering the Masters, and two of his six rounds were 80s in those tournaments.
“It’s just kind of continually gotten worse,” Dunlap said. “Like I said, I think my 3-wood on 15 was the first free golf swing I’ve probably had in four weeks. Yeah, I’m just going to go and hit a bunch of golf balls and get ready for next week.”
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.