They say a bad day on the links is preferable to a good day at work, but what if golf is your work?
Nick Dunlap, whose job is as a professional golfer, had a no good, very bad day at work Thursday during the opening round of the Master Tournament.
Dunlap shot a brutal 18 over par at Augusta National Golf Club – bad enough to not only put him squarely in last place on the leaderboard, but 11 strokes away from anyone else.
The dismal feat helped etch the 2024 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year a regrettable places in Masters history. Dunlap became just the 11th golfer to fail to break 90 in the first round of the famed major tournament and the first player who has failed to break 90 in 10 years.
Naturally, social media had jokes.
Who is Nick Dunlap?
Dunlap, 21, is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour and considered one of the top young players in professional golf.
The former University of Alabama golfer turned pro in 2024 after a stunning PGA Tour victory at The American Express. His win in January 2024 made him the first amateur in 33 years – and only the third since 1956 – to win on the PGA Tour, going back to Phil Mickelson in 1991.
He was also the youngest amateur to win a PGA Tour event since 1910.
The Huntsville, Alabama-native then picked up his second career PGA Tour victory in July 2024 at the Barracuda Championship.
What happened during Dunlap’s historically bad Masters round?
It’s a rarity for golfers in the prime of their professional career to fail to break 90 in the first round of the Masters Tournament.
Dunlap on Thursday recorded seven bogeys, four doubles and a triple bogey. The highlight of his day came when he holed a 14-foot putt on No. 16 to avoid a triple bogey on an otherwise dismal day.
While Dunlap will tee off again Friday, he faces a near-impossible challenge making the cut to continue playing in the third and fourth round of the Masters. After Friday, only the top 50 players (plus ties) will move on to play again Saturday and Sunday. Heading into Friday’s action, Dunlap was 15 strokes behind the projected cut line of +3.
Dunlap is now among only four players who have shot 90 or above during a Masters round since 2000. That includes Ben Crenshaw (91, 2015), Tommy Aaron (92, 2000) and Doug Ford (94, 2000).
Every par and putt: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Sports newsletter for more Masters updates.
The worst unofficial first round score in Masters history belongs to Billy Casper, who shot 106 in the opening round of the 2005 Masters, but, perhaps wisely, did not sign his scorecard, excluding it from an official place in the record books.
Social media users react to Nick Dunlap’s Masters round
While a dismal round for a professional golfer, Dunlap’s Thursday performance was perfectly average for many hobbyist golfers who hit the links on the weekend. For that reason, news of Dunlap’s score prompted plenty of ‘one of us’ jokes on social media.
But Dylan Dethier, a writer for Golf Magazine, gave Dunlap some credit for finishing the round and not withdrawing.
Users commenting on a post shared by Ways to Golf had plenty of humorous insights to shared, with one person dubbing Dunlap ‘The People’s Champion,’ and another noting ‘this shows you that an average golfer would shoot 180.’
Worst first round scores in Masters Tournament history
- 94 – Doug Ford (2000)
- 92 – Tommy Aaron (2003)
- 92 – Horton Smith (1962)
- 91 – Ben Crenshaw (2015)
- 91 – Horton Smith (1963)
- 91 – Chick Evans* (1960)
- 91 – Fred McLeod (1955)
- 90 – Nick Dunlap (2025)
- 90 – Chick Evans* (1959)
- 90 – Jock Hutchison (1956)
- 90 – Frank Souchak* (1954)
*indicates amateur status