Nick Dunlap withdraws from Farmers to ponder future

Nick Dunlap has withdrawn from this week's Farmers Insurance Open to return home and ponder his future.

The announcement came less than 24 hours after the 20-year-old became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson in 1991.

Dunlap also rose 4,061 spots to No 68 in the world rankings, the biggest jump in the ranking's history.

"After a life-changing last 24 hours, I've decided to withdraw from the Farmers Insurance Open," Dunlap said.

"I plan to return home to Alabama to be with family, friends and teammates."

Dunlap beat South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout by a shot on Sunday to claim The American Express in La Quinta, California.

In the process, he joined Mickelson (1991 Northern Telecom Open) and Scott Verplank (1985 Western Open) as only the third amateur to win on tour since 1957.

As an amateur, Dunlap was ineligible to claim the $1.512m first prize. He is now eligible for PGA Tour membership and to enter all seven of the PGA Tour's remaining signature events in 2024.

However, the Alabama sophomore would need to turn pro in order to claim prizemoney at those events.

The prospect of going from a sponsors invite at the AmEx to professional golfer in a matter of weeks was not something Dunlap was willing to tackle immediately following Sunday's round.

"If you would have said, 'Hey, in five days you're going to have a PGA Tour card or an opportunity (to be exempt) for two years,' I would have looked at you sideways," he said. "It's a conversation I need to have with a lot of people before I make that decision."

Dunlap is the second-youngest PGA Tour winner in 90 years, behind Jordan Spieth's win at the 2013 John Deere Classic as a 19-year-old. He also the first amateur to win the US Junior and the US