Former Alabama golfer Nick Dunlap shot par on the final hole of the final round of the St. Jude Championship despite being “a wreck.”

Dunlap entered the PGA Tour tournament ranked 67th out of 70 qualifiers for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He had to finish in the top 50 in the first event of the three-tournament championship to advance to the second. If he reached that level, Dunlap would automatically qualify for the eight major events on the PGA Tour next season.

Playing in the final pairing with Hideki Matsuyama on Sunday, Dunlap looked like he might make that jump. But on the 17th hole, Dunlap’s chances of winning for the third time this season vanished when he made bogey on the par-4 hole and Matsuyama made birdie.

For Dunlap, however, the bogey had even more serious consequences. If he had not shot at least par on the 18th hole, he would have fallen out of the top 50 and would have been unable to advance – and the last hole proved to be the most difficult of the tournament.

“I kind of knew,” Dunlap said after the round when asked if he understood what he was up against. “I was completely exhausted, I’m not going to lie to you. I mean, I was probably more nervous than I’ve ever been, to be honest.”

“I just didn’t want the season to end. I was having so much fun and I was just – I hit some really good shots, you know, a good tee shot on hole 12, two really good ones on hole 16 and 17, and then I went up there and sank the ball on hole 18. However that would have turned out, I would have been super proud of myself.”

Dunlap shot par on the 72nd hole of the tournament to finish at 1 under par (69), and his total score of 13 under par put him in a tie for fifth place. This puts Dunlap in 48th place in the FedEx Cup Playoffs points standings.

“I was about to ask about my hole-in-one,” Dunlap said. “I thought fifth was good enough. (Caddie) Hunter (Hamrick) had said – I think I was fifth at some point during the round, T5, and he said I was rated 48th, so I want to know where I’m at, especially on the last two holes, so it was weird.

“I started from 17 and tried to attack the pin. I thought I still had a chance to win the golf tournament. But then I didn’t get up and wondered if I was in the bubble or not. It was very stressful.”

Dunlap said he “just felt relief, honestly. It was a lot of hard work. I kind of knew what I had to do this week to kind of keep the season going. Like I said, I had so much fun and it’s another week where I can try to learn and play well.”

Dunlap would have had nothing to worry about if he had the points from his first PGA Tour victory. Dunlap won the American Express on Jan. 21 but did not receive the prize money or FedEx Cup points because he was an amateur – the first to win a PGA Tour event since 1991.

Dunlap left the Alabama national golf team to accept the PGA Tour membership that comes with the win and won again at the Barracuda Championship on July 21. This makes the former Spain Park High School star the only player to win on the PGA Tour as both an amateur and a professional in the same season.

A year ago, Dunlap played in the U.S. Amateur, which he won on August 20, 2023, at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, a suburb of Denver.

The FedEx Cup Playoffs will be held August 22-25 at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colorado, where the BMW Championship is being held. Castle Rock is also a suburb of Denver.

“This is a crazy year,” Dunlap said. “It was always a little bit of a goal in the back of my mind to get back to Denver next week. We played at Castle Pines and the four of us went there for the Walker Cup before the US Ams. And after the Ams it was always kind of a goal to get back there, so it’s nice to fly out there tomorrow.”

Dunlap said he also improved during his first PGA Tour season.

“Results-wise, it’s not like night and day, but for me it is,” Dunlap said. “Even throughout the year I’ve struggled a little bit, but I still felt like I was getting better. I just wasn’t getting the results I wanted to get when I was playing. And it’s been nice to see that kind of come to light in the last couple of weeks. I’ve made a lot of progress – especially with my drive and my 3-wood and my chipping – I’ve done a lot better. And it’s really cool to be on the home stretch now and be able to show that.”

To qualify for the Tour Championship, which takes place from August 29 to September 1 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Dunlap must be in the top 30 in the points standings after the BMW Championship.

Another former Alabama student will accompany Dunlap at the BMW Championship. Justin Thomas is 22nd in the points standings.