One PGA Tour player who has struggled desperately this season has started the World Wide Technology Championship in style.
The World Wide Technology Championship began on Thursday, with numerous players looking to make a late run to jump inside the top 100, or even the top-50, in the FedEx Cup standings ahead of the new season.
The PGA Tour have made a big rule change ahead of the 2026 season, with only the top 100 players in the standings now gaining full playing privileges, as opposed to 125 last year.
So there are plenty of exciting storylines to follow in Mexico this week.
El Cardonal at Diamante – a Tiger Woods design – is one of the easier golf courses on the PGA Tour due to the amount of room off the tee.
The fairways are the widest on tour, and considering the distance the players hit the ball now, it will be a birdie fest over in Mexico this week.
And one player took full advantage of that on day one.
Nick Dunlap beats Masters score by 29 strokes at the World Wide Technology Championship
Nick Dunlap has experienced an incredibly difficult 2025 season on the PGA Tour, with his lowest point coming at The Masters back in April.
Dunlap opened up with a round of 18-over par 90 at The Masters seven months ago as the two-time PGA Tour winner struggled badly with his driver.
To his credit, the 21-year-old bounced back with a round of 71 on day two at Augusta National.
Robert MacIntyre praised Dunlap for his impressive attitude at The Masters, in spite of the fact that he was playing so poorly.
Dunlap has missed 12 cuts in 24 events this season with only three top-25 finishes to his name, and his scoring average of 71.6 left him in 170th position for the season.
The American really has been all over the place with his swing in 2025 and he has missed four cuts in his last five events, so he certainly didn’t head into the World Wide Technology Championship with any kind of good form.
However, Dunlap showed up in style at El Cardonal at Diamante in Los Cabos.
Dunlap’s form in Mexico on Thursday was in stark contrast to his opening round at Augusta back in April.
At The Masters, his first round consisted of seven bogeys, four double bogeys, one triple bogey and only six pars.
However, he showed his class in Los Cabos on Thursday.
Dunlap fired a scintillating round of 61 in Mexico, carding nine birdies, an eagle, and eight pars.
Sure, the fairways at El Cardonal at Diamante are incredibly wide and forgiving, but you don’t shoot 61 without being on top of your game, whatever golf course you’re playing.
Dunlap showed the kind of form today which he displayed when he won The American Express and the Barracuda Championship in 2024.
The 21-year-old will be hoping that Thursday’s round in Mexico was a sign of things to come, rather than a one-off.
Nick Dunlap’s stats from round one of the World Wide Technology Championship
Dunlap is currently ranked 173rd in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour in 2025.
However, he will be climbing up that list after his opening round in Mexico, where he hit every single fairway.
In fact, his stats on day one were pretty impressive in all categories.
| Stats | Dunlap’s rank |
| Driving accuracy | T-1 |
| Greens in regulation | T-18 |
| Sand saves | T-1 |
| Scrambling | T-1 |
| Putts per GIR | T-3 |
Dunlap will be hugely encouraged by his opening round at the World Wide Technology Championship, but there is still a long way to go this week.
In order to secure his third PGA Tour win, he will most likely need to average around five-under par for his final three rounds.
Has he exorcised the demons from his round of 90 at The Masters in April? We will most likely find out over the next few days.
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