Nick Dunlap records extraordinary 19-shot turnaround after nightmarish opening round at the Masters

What do you do after recording one of the worst first-round scores ever at the Masters? Nick Dunlap had no hope of making the cut after shooting an 18-over-par 90 on Thursday. He briefly thought about quitting the tournament. He hit hit dozens of balls into the woods behind his Airbnb.

What do you do after recording one of the worst first-round scores ever at the Masters? Nick Dunlap had no hope of making the cut after shooting an 18-over-par 90 on Thursday. He briefly thought about quitting the tournament. He hit dozens of balls into the woods behind his Airbnb. And then, somehow, the 21-year-old American delivered a near-historic turnaround on Friday, improving his score by 19 shots to finish one-under-par in the second round. Though he missed the cut and finished 17-over across the two days, such an improvement was the biggest round-to-round turnaround at the Masters since 1936, and joint-biggest in any major in the past 50 years, according to ESPN. Dunlap, who is considered one of the sport’s hottest prospects after his achievements as a junior rivalled those of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, was still left disappointed and frustrated after his tournament. “(There’s) about the same (emotions as last round),” he told reporters afterward. “It’s frustrating. There’s a lot of anger. It’s hard to put everything you have into something and feel like you’re not getting any better. But, yeah, show up today, gave it all I got and posted something under par.”