Nick Dunlap has had his struggles of late but, at the John Deere Classic, the 21-year-old showed glimpses of his old self.
A two-time PGA Tour winner, Dunlap sprung on the scene following his American Express victory as an amateur, as well as his PGA Tour win later that year at the Barracuda Championship.
However, since that winning moment the American has struggled immensely, with an example of that being at Augusta National, where he carded the worst score of the whole championship.
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Dunlap, though, isn’t a quitter and, at the John Deere Classic, he showed what he is made of, carding a seven-under final round to vault himself up the leaderboard.
What is perhaps more impressive is that, for the final round, Dunlap was ranked as the worst driver, but his putting stats were the best in the field, with the former US Amateur winner moving himself, momentarily, into the clubhouse lead.
On Sunday, Dunlap lost 5.425 shots in terms of Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, but it was on the greens where he saved his strokes, as the American registered 10.971 shots gained over the final round at TPC Deere Run.
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Ranking last in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, but first in Strokes Gained: Putting, Dunlap jumped a near 30 places over the final round at the John Deere Classic to all-but secure a top 10 finish.
In April, at The Masters, Dunlap registered an opening round of 90, with the 18-over-par score including a back nine of 47.
Struggling off the tee, Dunlap explained that, that week, he “hit a couple buckets of balls at my Airbnb into the woods,” with the American then carding a one-under 71 the next day, an improvement of 19 shots.
Since that missed cut, he has registered missed cuts at the PGA Championship, RBC Canadian Open, US Open and Rocket Classic, with his best result of 2025 coming at the Sony Open in Hawaii back in January.
Currently, he is inside the top 10 of the John Deere Classic, with rounds of 68, 69, 68 and 64 putting him 15-under-par.
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