AUGUSTA, Ga. – Nick Dunlap didn’t go to the range after he shot 90 in the opening round of the 89th Masters Tournament.
“He wanted to get out of here,” said Dunlap’s longtime sports psychologist Bhrett McCabe. “It would’ve been a waste of time. His body was moving so fast and as it continued to spiral, it just got faster and faster and faster, and the flaw got bigger and bigger.”
Around 7:30 p.m., Dunlap asked his University of Alabama trainer, Clarke Holter, if he’d to Target and buy golf balls. He didn’t care what brand or color, just pick up several hundred. Dunlap turned the lights on at the back of his Augusta Airbnb and hit balls into the woods until almost midnight. He was out there solo, taking videos with his phone, trying to dig it out of the dirt.
“He said he was going to work to get it right until he can’t get it wrong,” said Holter.
It was a restless night.
“I don’t think he slept an hour,” said his father, Jim.
Dunlap admitted to thinking about not showing up for the second round but would never let that happen.
“I’ve never withdrawn from anything,” he said. “I've never teed it up and not finished. I take pride in that, and that's always how I'm going to be.”
Dunlap’s mother Charlene got emotional on Amen Corner when she talked about the support her son had received from fellow players from the moment he got out of the car Friday morning at Augusta National. From Will Zalatoris to Scottie Scheffler to Billy Horschel, who played alongside Dunlap. Horschel also works with McCabe and told him focus on Dunlap last night.
Dunlap sent McCabe a text Friday morning that said: “I will find a way to shoot under par.”
But it was an ominous start. The range session wasn’t good, and on the way to the first tee, Dunlap told McCabe, “I’m about to go play Augusta National in wind and I’ve got no idea.”
The problem is the driver. Dunlap hasn’t felt good on the tee for the better part of a month. Last year, the 21-year-old was the breakout star of the season, becoming the first player in PGA Tour history to win as both an amateur and a professional in the same season. Life changed at warp speed.
On Friday, Dunlap fashioned together one remarkable par save after another. For those watching, it was Where’s Waldo meets Houdini. The marshals worked hard to move patrons out of the way as he and his caddie paced off yardage from places most players have never seen.
