Tiger Woods has spent the better part of the last three decades chasing and making history on the golf course, doing things only previously done by the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones, if even them. But on Sunday, one of Tiger’s historic achievements was equaled.
Prior to turning pro in 1996, Woods won three straight U.S. Amateur Championships. Those came on the heels of winning three straight U.S. Junior Amateur Championships. Tiger is the only player to win both three times, something that will likely still be true 500 years from now. But until Sunday, he was the only man to win both events even once. That is no longer the case.
Nick Dunlap, a golfer at the University of Alabama defeated Ohio State’s Neal Shipley 4 & 3 in Sunday’s championship match at the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club, just outside of Denver. That, coupled with his win at the U.S. Junior Amateur in 2021, puts Dunlap in a group with Tiger as the only players to win both.
Nick Dunlap WINS the 123rd #USAmateur Championship at Cherry Hills! 🏆
📺: @NBC and @peacock pic.twitter.com/yGVmVoHFBH
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 20, 2023
Nick Dunlap is the 2023 U.S. Amateur champion.
He's the second player ever to win the U.S. Junior Amateur and the U.S. Amateur.
Tiger Woods is the other (won each 3 times).
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) August 20, 2023
Joining a list with Tiger Woods and nobody else is quite an accomplishment for any golfer. Knowing that, the golf world heaped praise on Dunlap for pulling off the double.
Legendary! Congrats to Greystone member, Nick Dunlap, on an incredible U.S. Amateur win 🥇👏
With this win, Nick joins Tiger Woods as the only two players to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur. The future’s bright – and Greystone’s cheering you on @NickDunlap62! pic.twitter.com/BUU7cLCqIx
— Greystone Golf & CC (@greystonegcc) August 20, 2023
Players who have won both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior:
-Nick Dunlap
-Tiger WoodsThat's the entire list🤯
— Zephyr Melton (@zephyrmelton) August 20, 2023
And now there are two! Elite company for Alabama’s Nick Dunlap. https://t.co/K9xYUBibO1
— Gary L. Harris (@garyharris_wvua) August 21, 2023
Congrats to Nick Dunlap on the U.S. Am win. Anytime you get a "the only player to have ever done this before is Tiger Woods…" disclaimer, you're doing something right. https://t.co/bbRuyMVR0L
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) August 20, 2023
The win also earned Dunlap an invitation to the 2024 U.S. Open and, presuming he keeps his amateur status, the Masters and Open Championship.
