Nick Dunlap: Nick Dunlap's shares concern of finishing ‘homework’ at The American Express 2024, reveals 'main goal' at the tournament

Then-20-year-old Nick Dunlap stunned the world by winning the 2024 American Express. This victory instantly elevated him to the ranks of golf's upcoming stars.

Carding a total score of 29-under, Dunlap defeated ace golfers like Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas and Sam Burns among others. However, in a recent personal essay published on 'The Player's Tribune', the young golfer revealed what his original plans for the 2024 American Express were.

Currently competing in the 2025 edition of the tournament, Dunlap said that he was focused on his "stats homework" this time, last year. The University of Alabama student had been doing the "tough work" of balancing studies and golf when he was invited to Palm Springs.

"So when I got invited to the 2024 Amex in Palm Springs, a PGA Tour event, of course I was thrilled. What college golfer wouldn’t be?? But I was also like ……… I gotta get this stats homework done. Invites like those don’t come around often as an amateur, so it was a really important week for me. I wanted to see how my game stacked up against the best in the world,"

Nick Dunlap's expectations from his first PGA Tour event were shockingly low compared to what he went on to achieve.

"I can’t lie: my main goal was just making the cut."

Dunlap is currently tied for 26th place in the second round of the 2025 American Express with a total score of nine-under-par.

Which course is Nick Dunlap playing at in the Round 2 of the 2025 American Express?

Nick Dunlap is playing at the Nicklaus Tournament Course for Round 2 of the 2025 American Express. He teed off with Sam Burns at 1:31 pm ET on Friday from the 10th tee.

Here's taking a look at the Round 2 tee times and pairings of the 2025 American Express:

La Quinta Country Club: Tee No. 1

11:30 a.m. – Bill Haas, Andrew Putnam
11:41 a.m. – Brendon Todd, Patton Kizzire
11:52 a.m. – Anders Albertson, Philip Knowles
12:03 p.m. – Trey Mullinax, Carson Young
12:14 p.m. – Chan Kim, Sam Stevens
12:25 p.m. – Davis Riley, Nick Hardy
12:36 p.m. – Kris Ventura, Jesper Svensson
12:47 p.m. – Ben Silverman, Wesley Bryan
12:58 p.m. – Matt McCarty, Vincent Norrman
1:09 p.m. – Will Chandler, Kyle Mendoza
1:20 p.m. – Jacob Bridgeman, Joe Highsmith
1:31 p.m. – Emiliano Grillo, Adam Schenk
1:42 p.m. – Thomas Rosenmueller, Mason Andersen

La Quinta Country Club: Tee No. 10

11:30 a.m. – Taylor Montgomery, Bronson Burgoon
11:41 a.m. – Matt Kuchar, Cam Davis
11:52 a.m. – Paul Peterson, Takumi Kanaya
12:03 p.m. – Chez Reavie, Aaron Baddeley
12:14 p.m. – Nick Taylor, Tom Kim
12:25 p.m. – Sungjae Im, Mackenzie Hughes
12:36 p.m. – Alex Smalley, Patrick Rodgers
12:47 p.m. – Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Harris English
12:58 p.m. – Lucas Glover, Erik van Rooyen
1:09 p.m. – Kevin Velo, Jackson Suber
1:20 p.m. – Lanto Griffin, Bud Cauley
1:31 p.m. – Luke List, Kevin Yu
1:42 p.m. – Kevin Roy, Ricky Castillo

Nicklaus Tournament Course: Tee No. 1

11:30 a.m. – Justin Lower, Ben Kohles
11:41 a.m. – Chris Kirk, Davis Thompson
11:52 a.m. – Rikuya Hoshino, Taylor Dickson
12:03 p.m. – Doug Ghim, Sam Ryder
12:14 p.m. – Zach Johnson, Kevin Kisner
12:25 p.m. – Si Woo Kim, Kurt Kitayama
12:36 p.m. – Quade Cummins, Noah Goodwin
12:47 p.m. – J.J. Spaun, Rico Hoey
12:58 p.m. – Rafael Campos, Peter Malnati
1:09 p.m. – Kaito Onishi, Jeremy Paul
1:20 p.m. – Patrick Fishburn, Andrew Novak
1:31 p.m. – Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris
1:42 p.m. – Aldrich Potgieter, Braden Thornberry

Nicklaus Tournament Course: Tee No. 10

11:30 a.m. – Adam Hadwin, Ryan Palmer
11:41 a.m. – Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel
11:52 a.m. – Matteo Manassero, Michael Thorbjornsen
12:03 p.m. – Charley Hoffman, Eric Cole
12:14 p.m. – Keith Mitchell, Brandt Snedeker
12:25 p.m. – Justin Thomas, Jason Day
12:36 p.m. – Greyson Sigg, Vince Whaley
12:47 p.m. – Camilo Villegas, Nico Echavarria
12:58 p.m. – Wyndham Clark, Rickie Fowler
1:09 p.m. – Blades Brown, Isaiah Salinda
1:20 p.m. – Max Greyserman, Kevin Streelman
1:31 p.m. – Nick Dunlap, Sam Burns
1:42 p.m. – John Pak, Tim Widing

Pete Dye Stadium Course: Tee No. 1

11:40 a.m. – Jason Dufner, David Lipsky
11:31 a.m. – Mark Hubbard, Daniel Berger
11:52 a.m. – Steven Fisk, Trevor Cone
12:03 p.m. – Sami Valimaki, Henrik Norlander
12:14 p.m. – Danny Willett, Victor Perez
12:25 p.m. – Jake Knapp, J.T. Poston
12:36 p.m. – Beau Hossler, Will Gordon
12:47 p.m. – Tom Hoge, Cameron Young
12:58 p.m. – Francesco Molinari, Jhonattan Vegas
1:09 p.m. – Alejandro Tosti, Cristobal Del Solar
1:20 p.m. – Joel Dahmen, Ben Griffin
1:31 p.m. – Brian Harman, Sepp Straka
1:42 p.m. – William Mouw, Ryan Gerard

Pete Dye Stadium Course: Tee No. 10

11:30 a.m. – Ben Martin, Chandler Phillips
11:41 a.m. – Brice Garnett, Harry Hall
11:52 a.m. – Danny Walker, Matthew Riedel
12:03 p.m. – Nate Lashley, David Skinns
12:14 p.m. – Frankie Capan III, Antoine Rozner
12:25 p.m. – Chad Ramey, K.H. Lee
12:36 p.m. – Chesson Hadley, Harry Higgs
12:47 p.m. – Michael Kim, Mac Meissner
12:58 p.m. – Taylor Moore, Lee Hodges
1:09 p.m. – Norman Xiong, Brian Campbell
1:20 p.m. – Ryo Hisatsune, Matti Schmid
1:31 p.m. – Chris Gotterup, Adam Svensson
1:43 p.m. – Max McGreevy, Hayden Buckley

Edited by Pratham K Sharma