American golfer Nick Dunlap became the first amateur to win on the PGA Tour in thirty-three years when he won The American Express tournament by a single stroke.
With this triumph, Dunlap becomes the first amateur winner on the PGA Tour since 1991's Phil Mickelson. He is the youngest amateur winner since 1910 at the age of 20.
At the Pete Dye Stadium Course in La Quinta, California, the second-year University of Alabama student tied fellow American player Sam Burns' lead with a birdie putt at the par-five sixteenth hole.
Then, at the par-three 17th hole, Burns faltered on the hardest hole of the day after finding water off the tee.
Dunlap was 35 feet from the hole on the green at that moment. He continued with a straightforward par, but Burns made a double bogey.
With the par-four eighteenth hole left, the amateur took the lead, while South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout birdied the hole to close the distance.
Dunlap's tee shot into the right rough, but he made up ground on his approach to tap in for par and win with a record-low winning score of 29 under 259 for the 72-hole event.
He surpassed the record of 28 under, which American golfer Patrick Reed established back in 2014.
"Nothing like I've ever felt," Dunlap said of his winning putt on the 18th.
"It was so cool to be out here and experience this as an amateur. Whether I had made that or missed that, if you would have told me (on) Wednesday night I would have a putt to win this golf tournament, I wouldn't believe you."
The 20-year-old added: "Everybody's got doubts.
"I probably had a thousand different scenarios in my head of how today was going to go, and it went nothing like I expected. I think that was the cool part about it. That's golf."
He will not get the £1.18 million ($1.5 million) prize money, but he will remain eligible to compete on the PGA Tour until 2026.
Instead, Bezuidenhout, who finished in second place, receives the winning prize money.
Except for Tiger Woods, Dunlap was the only golfer to win the US Junior Amateur and US Amateur titles in the same year.
On the 18th green, following his winning putt, Dunlap spoke in a tearful interview: "I told Hunter [Hamrick, his caddie] we hadn't faced much adversity yet and hitting that ball in the water on seven tested everything I had.
"I missed a couple of putts that I thought I was going to make. I went over a scenario for today probably a million times and it's never going to go how you plan, and it didn't. I'm so happy to be standing here [having won].
"Honestly, I felt this script today was already written. I was going to go give it everything I had. Whether I shot 75 65 or 70, I was going to go give it everything I had.
When asked if he knew he had a one-shot lead heading into the 18th, Dunlap responded: "I wasn't! I thought I had a two-shot lead.
"Our line was almost right of the green, it was like 'Don't hit this in the water'. Then obviously I think I hit somebody - so I'm sorry to whoever that was - but got a great break and was able to get myself a good look."
Later on, at the press conference, he added: "Most nervous I've ever been, by far. Just tried to breathe, but also looked up and enjoyed it a little bit. It's a cool spot to be in as an amateur and just to be here and be allowed to play. I just don't ever want to forget today."
Will Dunlap now go pro?
When asked if he had thought about his playing status moving ahead, he smiled in response: "Oh, boy," "I have no idea, I don't. It's cool to have that opportunity in the first place and starting the week if you had said 'Hey, in five days you're going to have a PGA Tour card or an opportunity for two years' I'd have looked at you sideways.
"But that's something that doesn't just affect me, it affects a lot of people. It's a conversation I need to have with a lot of people before I make that decision."
As long as he became a professional before the PGA Championship and the Masters, Dunlap would be eligible to participate in all of this year's Signature Events. He can now sign up for PGA Tour membership at any time throughout the remaining 2024 season.
If Dunlap stays his present non-professional status, he is currently exempt from playing in the Masters, US Open, and The Open as the defending US Amateur champion.
He can sign up for membership for 2025 no later than 30 days following the end of the PGA Tour campaign; if not, he will have to wait a year to join for 2026.
Irrespective of whether he turns professional between now and then, Dunlap is now able to feature in March's The Players Championship in the wake of his victory in California.
He can now participate in Full-Field Events up to a maximum of 12 times under the tournament winners category.
The Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, which begins in San Diego on Wednesday, is the next stop on the PGA Tour.