Nick Dunlap has struggled on the PGA Tour since turning professional after his historic victory at the American Express.
In the five tournaments since then, Dunlap has missed the cut twice, finished last at Pebble Beach and missed both the Cognizant Classic and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
But he didn’t struggle in the third round of the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Dunlap shot a 7-under 63, one stroke shy of the course record set by Tony Finau on Friday. In doing so, the former Alabama star rocketed up the leaderboard and into contention.
“All I tried to do today was play perfectly with what I had. Not necessarily perfect golf, but just easy golf up and down, not three putts. ” Dunlap said of the third round.
“I don’t make every putt, I don’t hit every wedge near, but I feel like I went from trying to play a perfect round of golf to being able to do that.”
The current U.S. Amateur champion recorded seven birdies and zero bogeys, and is currently at 8 under par to win the championship.
Dunlap looked more comfortable on the outside. Perhaps that welcoming sight can be attributed to playing practice rounds with Scotty Scheffler and Sam Burns. He played Scheffler again on Tuesday at Memorial Park.
“I think [Scheffler] “Practice rounds are played just like tournament rounds,” Dunlap reasoned.
“Obviously, he misses very few golf shots. His putting is getting a lot better. He’s doing everything he’s supposed to do well, and he’s obviously very good under pressure.”
Make no mistake, the 20-year-old has learned a lot from both Scheffler and Burns, with whom he teamed up for the Ryder Cup this fall. But the biggest thing Dunlap has learned so far is to focus on the small things because the margin for error is so thin on the PGA Tour.
“They’re really good, really good,” Dunlap said of his fellow PGA Tour pros.
“Even the little ups and downs, you have to do the little things better. I think everyone here thinks they’re hitting super hard shots well, and sometimes they do. However, the things they hit without stress are easy shots and lag putts. [range]And they move on, and that’s something I have to get better at. ”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
