Nick Dunlap’s historic win, Brandel’s tryout

Check in each week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they break down the most popular matters within the sport, and be a part of the dialog by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week we talk about Nick Dunlap’s historic win as an newbie, Lydia Ko and Rory McIlroy’s bounce backs, Brandel Chamblee’s tryout and extra.

1. Nick Dunlap, a 20-year-old newbie making his fourth profession PGA Tour begin, made historical past on the American Express. He shot 60 on Saturday (tying the bottom spherical by an newbie in PGA Tour historical past) after which closed with a 70 on Sunday to win by one and change into the primary newbie to win on Tour since Phil Mickelson in 1991. How on this planet did he do it?

James Colgan, information and options editor (@jamescolgan26): He did it by being — by a comparatively vast margin — the most effective participant within the subject this week. All weekend lengthy he displayed the combo of shotmaking talent and ice-cold placing which have turned golfers into very rich golfers for so long as time. And, contemplating his title now sits alongside these like Mickelson and Woods, I believe it’s honest to recommend Dunlap might be a really rich golfer very quickly.

Josh Sens, senior author (@joshsens): So a lot comes right down to the psychological sport. Dunlap stated he considered the strain as a privilege. That’s straightforward to say. But he performed like he believed it. 

Alan Bastable, govt editor (@alan_bastable): It was one other reminder that as we speak’s high faculty gamers are unafraid to embrace huge moments on the professional degree. I used to be so impressed not solely by Dunlap’s sport but additionally by his maturity. In his post-round pressers, he appeared like he’d been there earlier than. And as Josh stated, he oozed self-belief. As Dunlap himself stated Sunday night, “I felt the script today was already written.” Pretty cool. One factor that actually shocked me, although: Dunlap’s admission that he thought he had a two-shot lead as he performed the 72nd gap. How he may have been misinformed on such crucial data felt like a strategic gaffe that would have come again to chew him. 

2. Dunlap had a formidable resume previous to this week, as simply final summer season he turned the second golfer ever (becoming a member of Tiger Woods) to win each the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Am. Now, with this win beneath his belt, is he the frontrunner to be the sport’s subsequent star?

Colgan: Yep. There’s been an superior youth motion within the professional sport during the last a number of years, however nobody has entered the game with extra momentum than Dunlap. Hovland, Wolff, Morikawa, and Scheffler all entered with large hype, however no one’s fairly achieved something like this. We’re witnessing one thing severely uncommon.

Sens: Agreed. It’s a fickle sport and nothing is assured. But as spectacular as this was, there was additionally nothing fluky about it. No purpose to suppose there received’t be extra if the identical to return. 

Bastable: Lol, he’s already a PGA Tour winner — who you gonna put forward of him?! Speaking of Tiger, I beloved what Dunlap stated about how chasing Tiger’s information will encourage him: “I know that’s an extremely high bar, and I don’t know if that comes off really cocky or not, but for me that’s something.” Nobody’s anticipating Dunlap to place up Woodsian numbers however it’s important to admire him setting the bar excessive for himself. Going to be very enjoyable to trace his growth.    

3. Who had the different most spectacular, or essential, end on Sunday: Rory McIlroy, who received the Dubai Desert Classic after letting a special event title slip via the cracks per week earlier? Lydia Ko, who was winless on the LPGA Tour final 12 months however received the season-opener on Sunday? Or Justin Thomas, who completed T3 on the AmEx, after he had simply two high 5s all of final season?

Colgan: Rory! Who shortly flipped the narrative after final week’s struggles in Dubai right into a dialog about how he’s had two top-2 finishes in two begins this 12 months. But to your level, seeing each JT and Rory card some sturdy early-season finishes fuels some main optimism for the 12 months forward. I’m giddy.

Sens: Call me biased, as Ko is my favourite golfer on any tour. But she had such a perplexingly poor 2023, coupled with caddie and swing coach modifications. I’d argue that her return to the winner’s circle is extra putting than both Rory or JT’s play — Rory has lengthy been cold and warm from one occasion to the subsequent. And Thomas was displaying indicators of revival earlier than this week. 

Bastable: Yeah, a January win within the Middle East for Rory doesn’t precisely get my motor operating. I’m with Sens. Ko is a large asset for the ladies’s sport, each on and off the course (she’s at all times elite within the press room), so her return to kind is an enormous deal for the ladies’s sport. Here’s hoping this week portends extra success to return in ‘24.       

4. NBC’s lead analyst “tryout” continued on the American Express, this time with Brandel Chamblee getting his spot within the chair. What did you consider Brandel in that function? And was he completely different — for higher or for worse — than the studio-analyst model golf followers are used to?

Colgan: I expanded on this additional within the Hot Mic e-newsletter, however I used to be severely impressed with Brandel’s work. Made me really feel smarter for watching, and rose to the second following Dunlap’s win. I believe he must be a critical consideration for the lead analyst chair.

Sens: Chamblee is best identified for deep-dive pre and post-round analyses. But he was particularly good at being Johnny-on-the-spot this week. His commentary was clear, concise and insightful all through. You may say he benefited from being handed an ideal story. But, as they are saying of clutch golfers, he additionally met the second. I say rent the person for the hot-seat function.

Bastable: Full disclosure: I used to be in a position to watch solely on Sunday afternoon, however throughout that stretch Chamblee sounded ready and comfy. I didn’t hear any classic Chamblee evaluation or candor which may make for Monday-morning blog-post fodder, however little question these nuggets would come if he will get tapped for the job.  

5. Jack Burke Jr., the winner of the 1956 Masters and PGA Championship, died on Jan. 19, 2024, 10 days earlier than his one hundred and first birthday. Burke was a beloved determine within the sport and was the game’s oldest-living main champ. In your thoughts, what’s his legacy?

Colgan: Jack grasped that golfers have been advocates for his or her sport lengthy earlier than anybody in professional golf spoke of the phrase “marketing.” He was a legend for what he did on the course, however he was visionary for what he did off of it. He set a robust instance of his friends to observe (even as we speak).

Sens: I believe he’ll rightly be remembered as a sort of folksy Yoda of the sport. A former star who turned a mentor. In his prime, he performed it on the highest degree, and he remained a purist — going as far as to construct a well-known all-golf-all-the-time membership of his personal that in flip turned a landmark. Top gamers sought him out for recommendation, monitoring him down at Champions to soak up his knowledge. To torture the Yoda comparability, Burke turned the Champions Club into the golf-world’s planet Degobah. 

Bastable: There are straight shooters, after which there was Jackie Burke, who was not the type to carry something again, regardless of his viewers. That sort of forthrightness is uncommon in golf, and Burke had it in spades. A couple of years again, he accepted an award at a Golf Writers Association of America annual dinner and spoke with nice knowledge about what it takes to win a Masters, particularly that you could’t play scared. “You can’t fear it or think you’re going to be disgraced if you don’t win the Masters,” he stated. “If you go out to try to win the Masters, that’s some pretty poor thinking.”    

6. Bernhard Langer introduced that this 12 months’s Masters — his forty first total — might be his final. The 1985 and 1993 Masters champ is 66 and missed the minimize that final three years. Still, he’s been probably the most aggressive previous winners taking part in previous their prime within the event’s historical past. Are you shocked he’s calling it quits at Augusta?

Colgan: Yes, if solely as a result of I can’t think about any world through which I’d flip down a yearly tee time at Augusta National. I’ll miss Bernhard, who is likely one of the steadiest gamers I’ve ever witnessed, besting, like, 75 gamers every year on Masters Thursday.

Sens: It doesn’t shock me a lot because it makes me wistful. All issues should go. But it’s too unhealthy that a few of them appear to go so shortly. Doesn’t really feel so way back that I used to be watching Langer on the market in his prime. But it is sensible that he’s calling it quits. Beating 75 gamers is cool. But like so lots of the greats, Langer doesn’t need to be on the market if he doesn’t suppose he can win.

Bastable: I might have beloved to see him make a Masters begin at 70. But it’s to not be. The best champions know when it’s time.