Q. Pretty classic tale of two nines there for you. Kind of take me through what flipped midway through to get you all those birdies on the back?
NICK DUNLAP: This golf course, it's very unique and it's very difficult. You can hit a lot of good shots and be in some bad spots. The margins are just so small. I felt like I did that. I hit a couple wedges where it was three or four yards too far, or three, four yards too short, and got penalized for it. I just tried not to press. I didn't have a ton of great numbers on the front, and then 10, 11, 12 hit three really quality iron shots and had three perfect numbers and capitalized on that. Then made a couple good putts coming down the stretch to cap it off.
Q. Is this one of those courses that allows you maybe not to press when you start off bad? On other TOUR stops when you know the winning score could be 20-under, on a course like this, make a couple bogeys to start, it's a place where you feel like, hey, I can still get a round back on track?
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, you can't step up on the tee and try to make a birdie. They just kind of come, whether you hit a good 3-wood, driver or whatever off the tee and you have a good number and you're able to attack a pin. There's some holes, like 3 this morning, where I kind of hit it a little right, you think that's a birdie hole, it's 360 yards, and just wasn't in a position where I could make a birdie at all, even from the fairway. So you kind of just have to take what it gives you sometimes.
Q. This is your first time playing the course, right, this week?
NICK DUNLAP: Yes.
Q. What's that challenge like? I'm sure that's the way it is for every week for you, but what's that challenge like?
NICK DUNLAP: It's tough. You're kind of learning on the fly a little bit. I don't think it's any different than any other practice round you're preparing for, it's a very demanding golf course that you have to hit a lot of high quality iron shots and there's really no gray area, you either kind of hit good ones or you're in a bad spot. So I think that's something that is pretty special about this place.
Q. How many practice rounds did you play this week?
NICK DUNLAP: I played Monday and Tuesday. I didn't play in the pro-am on Wednesday. But I played 18 on Tuesday, so...
Q. I would imagine this whole year's been an incredible whirl wind for you. Can you describe what that's like. You didn't expect to turn pro but obviously the win changed things?
NICK DUNLAP: It's a dream come true, it really is. My goal was to be out here, I just didn't think it would happen that quick. I'm very grateful to be here and to play really cool places like this place, and I thought it was going to kind of be a little bit of a learning curve early on and it's hard to tell myself that as I'm going through the year, but I'm quickly seeing what I need to improve on and I knew I needed to improve a couple things while being out here and being able to compete week-to-week. I feel like I'm finally starting to get a little bit of a grasp on that.
Q. What's been the biggest thing you've struggled with in the transition?
NICK DUNLAP: Just learning my schedule week-to-week. In college you play one week and you have a week off, you can kind of get back, you can work out, you can get what you need to get done for that next week. When you're out here playing three, four weeks in a row, you have to figure out, all right, I'm going to work out these days so I'm not sore, but I'm on the road four weeks, so I got to find a little bit of time to keep my game sharp and learn the golf course as best you can week-to-week. So I think that's kind of been the toughest part for me early on.
Q. Have you given yourself patience do you feel like throughout the process?
NICK DUNLAP: No, no, I'm a very hyper competitive person and I don't like losing. I'm grateful to have Hunter on the bag, he's been a really good voice for me when times are going good and bad.
Q. We talked to Jackson Koivun earlier this week, he says he knows you just a little bit. Just your impressions of him obviously getting the start. He kind of ran through college golf this last year.
NICK DUNLAP: Yeah, it's super impressive. I didn't see all of his stats, but obviously he played in the fall and I saw that he, I don't think he finished outside the top 6 or 7, which is very, very impressive. And then to sweep on the awards, I told him -- he was walking to the chipping green and I told him I'll see him out here very, very soon. I don't think there's a doubt in my mind about that.
Q. As a 20-year-old, obviously Jack Nicklaus's career was long over by the time you came around, but how much of an appreciation do you have for his impact on the game and being at his tournament?
NICK DUNLAP: I mean, a lot. I think record-wise I don't think any record kind of stands up to his. He's an icon of golf. To kind of be in his little playground here at Muirfield is pretty cool. To play it during this event, not just to kind of play it in a recreational round is really neat and a dream come true for me.
Q. You beat Neal Shipley, obviously, in the Amateur. Ohio State guy. What do you remember about that and how much did that help propel you to where you are now?
NICK DUNLAP: A lot. I think that was a tournament that I had circled in the amateur space, and that's the one that I think is above all others. I remember kind of playing that a couple times and remembering watching on TV what it was like seeing all those guys come down the stretch and then to be able to do that myself was, it helped in a lot of ways to be able to kind of try to get comfortable on stages like this.
Q. You had any milkshakes this week?
NICK DUNLAP: I had two yesterday.
Q. Flavors?
NICK DUNLAP: I had a caramel and a Buckeye. So I didn't want to get the Buckeye but I figured I would probably get it at least once.
Q. Alabama/Ohio State, I actually cover football so Ohio State got a couple transfers from Alabama, is there like a rivalry, is there like bad feelings from Alabama people?
NICK DUNLAP: No, no, I don't think so. I mean, it's just kind of the way today works with the portal and NIL and that kind of thing happens. But, no, I don't like any team that's not Alabama. I'm an Alabama fan.
Q. What was your plan before you won in January? What was your long-term plan I guess?
NICK DUNLAP: I think the PGA TOUR U does a, what they're doing is incredible for amateur and college golf. I think they're giving us a platform to show our abilities and right out of college give us some where to play. Whether that's Canada or Latin or Korn Ferry Tour or out here. I think it's starting to be seen that, you know, with Ludvig coming out and having the success he did and a couple other guys, that the top amateur golfers are really good, and I'm glad that the PGA TOUR U's given that kind of platform to be able to come out and do that. So I always kind of figured either that way or the 20 accelerated points like Gordon Sargent did and what I'm sure Jackson will do very, very soon, I always kind of thought that was going to be my path, whether that's in two years, three years, four years, whatever that is, but that's kind of what my, what I had my eye on.
Q. Now to be, again, the first round, but still to be at least I looked a co-leader, what does that mean?
NICK DUNLAP: A lot, but it's still the first day and there's a lot of golf out there, so keep your head down, it's a golf course that demands a lot of good shots and there's a lot of holes left.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports