Copyright Athlon Sports
Sometimes desperation brings out the best in a golfer. Just ask Sami Valimaki and Nick Dunlap, who both fired stunning 11-under 61s on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the World Wide Technology Championship. For these two young players, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Though for very different reasons. When Your Back’s Against the Wall Valimaki’s situation is particularly nerve-wracking. The 27-year-old from Finland sits at No. 103 in the FedExCup Fall standings with only three tournaments remaining. That’s a problem when you need to be inside the top 100 to keep your full PGA TOUR card for 2026. “It’s not the best pressure, but it’s how it is,” Valimaki admitted after his bogey-free round. “At least I made my card back in Europe, so at least I have something over there, so I feel like that gives you a little extra freedom. Of course, you want to play here. Just have to play good these last three.” That safety net in Europe (secured with a runner-up finish in Switzerland) might be the psychological edge that freed him up to attack El Cardonal at Diamante without fear. When you’ve got nothing to lose, sometimes you play your best golf. Dunlap’s Dramatic Finish Dunlap posted his 61 first, setting the bar with some serious theatrics. The 21-year-old turned a difficult lie into a chip-in eagle on the par-5 18th hole, capping off a final six-hole stretch where he went 6-under par. About 30 minutes later, Valimaki would match the course-record score. “Golf’s been very hard recently and today was the opposite of that,” Dunlap said. “I think I hit every fairway. The fairways are pretty forgiving out here for the most part. Gave myself ton of good iron and wedge opportunities and rolled it really, really nice.” At 21 years, 10 months, and 14 days old, Dunlap became the youngest player to record multiple rounds of 61 or better on TOUR since 1983. Not bad for someone who’s still trying to find consistency after his remarkable 2024 season, when he became the first player in PGA TOUR history to win as both an amateur and a professional in the same season. A Day Made for Scoring Thursday was one of those rare days when a golf course basically surrenders. Sunny skies, temperatures in the mid-80s, and winds barely reaching 7-14 mph meant the Tiger Woods-designed course had no defense whatsoever. More than three-quarters of the 120-man field broke par. Twenty players shot 66 or better. The course record of 61, first set by Carson Young in last year’s second round, was matched twice in one day. Five players sit three shots back at 8-under 64, including Vince Whaley, who’s fighting his own battle to stay inside the top 100, and Kris Ventura, the Mexico-born Norwegian who started playing golf at age 3 in his birth country before moving to Norway at 12. The Bigger Picture What makes this tournament so compelling isn’t just the low scores. It’s the desperation lurking beneath them. The FedExCup Fall is where careers get extended or derailed. Only the top 100 in the standings after The RSM Classic will have full status for 2026. For players like Valimaki, Whaley (currently No. 89), and even 47-year-old Matt Kuchar (who opened with a 65), every shot matters. Dunlap, sitting at No. 145 in the Fall standings, still has full status from his two wins last year, but he’s clearly hungry to prove that 2024 wasn’t a fluke. His bogey-free 61 was his first clean card since the final round of this year’s American Express, a tournament he won as an amateur last year. What’s Next? With six players still needing to complete their first rounds after darkness suspended play, and ideal scoring conditions likely to continue, we could see more fireworks on Friday. The question is whether Valimaki and Dunlap can maintain this momentum or if the pressure of leading will change their approach. For Valimaki especially, this is exactly the start he needed. Three more rounds like Thursday, and he won’t have to worry about that top-100 cutoff. But as any golfer knows, maintaining an 11-under pace is a lot harder than getting there once. The course may have been defenseless on Thursday, but the mental game is just getting started.
