Social media reacts as Nick Dunlap shoots one of worst ever Masters scores

Nick Dunlap suffered the ignominy of posting the worst Masters score in a decade at Augusta National.

Dunlap posted an 18-over 90 in Thursday’s first round to sit dead last, 11 shots behind the nearest man on the leaderboard.

The most shocking part of Dunlap’s round, however, was that he didn’t even have a single three-putt.

It wasn’t the devilish greens that fooled the 21-year-old American, who in fact averaged a respectable 1.83 putts per hole. It was the fact that Dunlap found trouble pretty much everywhere else.

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He started off with a bogeys at one, three and four, but the real misery began after his triple-bogey seven on the fifth.

Dunlap went on to shoot 47 on the second nine, just two shots better than the worst in Masters history.

Not that it will ease any of the pain, but at least this wasn’t the highest score in Masters history.

That record is held by Charlie Kunkle, who shot 95 in the 1956 staging of the tournament.

The last player who failed to break 90, meanwhile, was then 63-year-old Ben Crenshaw, who shot 91 in 2015.

Unsurprisingly, social media lit up after learning of Dunlap’s torrid afternoon in Georgia.

“Dunlap is the 3rd player in Masters history under the age of 50 to shoot 90 or higher in a round,” stats guru Justin Ray wrote.

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It left others wondering what even a scratch handicapper might shoot in tournament conditions.

“If recreational golfers needed another example how tough Augusta National is in tournament conditions, Nick Dunlap – 2023 US Am champ & 2x PGAT winner shot +18 90 today,” Luke Elvy added.

Indeed, Dunlap became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson in 1991 when he won at the American Express last January. Seven months later, he won the Barracuda Championship.

But Dunlap has struggled in recent times, missing his last three cuts.

He has also failed to make the weekend in the first five majors of his fledging career, and that number is surely going to rise to six.

“Nick Dunlap’s scorecard is very relatable,” golf fan wrote.

“His scorecard looks like mine,” another agreed. “Tough day.”

One hopes it can only get better for Dunlap from here.