Nick Dunlap recently shocked the world by winning The 2024 American Express as a 20-year-old amateur, but really, his playing resume should have been an obvious sign of early success on the PGA Tour.
Dunlap, who’s currently a Sophomore at the University of Alabama, won the U.S. Junior in 2021, and the U.S. Amateur in 2023. He also won his first collegiate event in March 2023, then reeled off wins at the Northeast Amateur in June and the North and South Amateur in July.
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Now, he’s a PGA Tour winner.
Following Dunlap’s historic victory at The American Express, GolfWRX.com caught up with his longtime fitter and TaylorMade Senior Tour Representative Cory Johnson for a five-question, gear-focused Q&A.
Check out our interview with Johnson below, or head over to Nick Dunlap’s Winning WITB to see his full-bag specs.
GolfWRX: When did you start working with Nick? Was there anything performance-wise, or in terms of his equipment setup, that stood out to you about him?
Cory Johnson, TaylorMade: I started working with Nick in 2015 when he was 11. He was put on our radar by a past KFT staffer and I’ve been helping him through TM’s elite amateur development efforts ever since. From the beginning, he was ultra-competitive and just hated to lose. I remember an AJGA event when he was 14; he took fifth place and had to be talked into staying for the trophy ceremony since he was so mad at not winning.
Currently, compared to PGA Tour players, how do his launch monitor numbers stack up? Does he have exceptional speed or consistency? What are his strengths?
Nick’s numbers are usually in the mid 180’s with the driver and he has about four speeds that he can move it. He essentially has a low/mid/normal tee shot, and full ship-it shot for what the hole puts in front of him. He has plenty of speed, but I think his huge strengths are his ability to hit it those different ways, and put it in play depending on the hole/wind.
Would you consider Nick a “gear head”? Does he enjoy getting into the tech part of golf, or is he more of a feel player?
Nick added a launch monitor to his normal practice in this past year so he has become way more in tune with those numbers, which a big part of his wedge game improving. When it comes to the actual specs on the clubs, he falls way more in the feel category and doesn’t get in to that very deep. Most of the initial feedback is going to be on head shapes, loft/lie looks, and weight.
What was the fitting process like for the Qi10 LS driver, specifically? How did he improve by making the upgrade?
We were fortunate to have Nick test some prototype heads in August before he won the U.S. Am, so we had a pretty good idea what we needed to start this year off. Nick wants a driver that will not go left, can maintain enough spin when he hits the low tee shot, and starts in his intended window. The Qi10 LS was about 2 mph faster than his previous driver, and launched a little higher. He played the new driver for 4 rounds on a trip to Forida before coming to Palm Springs, then the three practice rounds at Amex, and just basically never missed a shot. At that point, he was ready to go, which shows how good the Qi10 line is because he isn’t usually a tinkerer with equipment and is hesitant to change quickly.
Does he have anything particular spec-wise that stands out, such as lie angles, lofts, grip size, or anything peculiar?
The usual tricky part with the driver is Nick liking a driver that won’t go left, but his eyes naturally go to a club head that is fairly upright and around 44.75 inches. When he is playing his best, his driver is more a push-straight ball that just never moves. Right now he is playing the driver in the “Std upright” position to get that start line where he needs, and the sliding weight is all the way in the “Fade” position.
Thanks, Cory!
