Nick Dunlap Becomes First Player in a Decade to Shoot 90 at the Masters
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Nick Dunlap had seen some big numbers start creeping into his game before he arrived at the Masters.
Nothing could have prepared him for the amount of strokes he’d take in 18 holes on Thursday.
The 21-year-old Dunlap dropped five shots over his final three holes of an already nightmarish day to post a round of perfect bogey golf — 18-over 90. That made him the first player in a decade, the third under age 50 and the first under age 38 to fail to break 90 at the Masters.
Dunlap, his eyes bloodshot and his face ashen as he walked from the 18th green to the scoring room to make his ugly score official, did not speak to reporters afterward.
“I’ve played with him a few times this year, and what a great player, what a great guy,” said Robert MacIntyre, whose 75 was the low score in a threesome that also included Billy Horschel (77). “He was struggling out there today, (but) his attitude was solid. He didn’t get in the way. He didn’t lay off anything that was going to affect his two other playing partners because we’ve got a job to do.
“I feel for him today, but he’ll come back.”
Ben Crenshaw was the last player to shoot in the 90s when he opened his final Masters appearance in 2015 with a 91 at age 63.
Most of the players to shoot 90 or worse were aging lions of the game. Masters champions Doug Ford and Horton Smith each did it twice. Charles “Chick” Evans and Fred McLeod accepted midcentury Masters invitations when they were decades past their peak, and each posted two scores beginning with a 9.
