Nick Dunlap closed with an eagle at the par-5 18th for a bogey-free, 11-under 61 and a share of the lead at the World Wide Technology Championship.
“Golf’s been very hard recently and today was the opposite of that,” said Dunlap. “I think I hit every fairway. The fairways are pretty forgiving out here for the most part. Gave myself a ton of good iron and wedge opportunities and rolled it really, really nice.
“Golf can make you be very, very hard on yourself, especially when you’re putting a lot of work in, you’re not getting good results, might get a couple bad breaks. Some days it just feels like you never have a good number or feels every wind might make you uncomfortable. Kind of seems like that’s how it’s been for me recently and today was a nice change of pace.”
61, his low 18-hole score as a professional, is one stroke shy of his career-low round of 60 at the 2024 American Express (R3/Won), which is tied for the lowest round by and amateur in PGA Tour history (60/Patrick Cantlay/2011 Travelers Championship).
At 21 years, 10 months and 14 days old, the American becomes the youngest player to have multiple rounds of 61 or better on Tour since 1983 (next youngest: Justin Thomas/22 years, 6 months, 1 day).
Dunlap holds his first career 18-hole lead/co-lead on Tour (previous best 18-hole position: T4/2025 Bank of Utah Championship.
Finland’s Sami Välimäki also signed for a bogey-free 61 for his share of the lead, matching his career low round on Tour (61/R1/2024 John Deere Classic/finished T12).
He holds his second 18-hole lead/co-lead (2025 Valspar Championship/finished T36). His career-best finish on Tour in 51 starts was second at the 2024 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld. He has had two top 10-finishes in 23 starts this season (4th/Texas Children’s Houston Open, T7/ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic).
American Vince Whaley made one bogey and closed with a 64 for a share of third place at 8-under alongside compatriots Chad Ramey and Andrew Putnam, both bogey-free.
Norway’s Kris Ventura who was born in Puebla, Mexico opened with a bogey-free 64 for his share of third place, tying his career low opening-round score (R1/64/2025 Mexico Open at VidantaWorld/finished T25). Germany’s Matti Schmid also fired a bogey-free 64 to join the tie at 8-under.
Defending champion and World Wide Technology ambassador Austin Eckroat of the USA opened with a 2-over 74 and lies in T106.
The first round of the World Wide Technology Championship was suspended due to darkness at 5:41 p.m. MT. Play is scheduled to resume Friday morning at 7:15 a.m. with six players yet to complete their round. The second round will begin as scheduled.
The World Wide Technology Championship became the first official PGA Tour event played in Mexico in the modern era when it debuted in 2007, and holds the distinction as the first official Tour event played outside the US or Canada; this year marks the 19th playing of the event and the third time the tournament is played at El Cardonal at Diamante.
FedExCup Fall Notes
The 2025 World Wide Technology Championship is the fifth event of the FedExCup Fall, a group of seven tournaments played after
the Tour Championship that finalizes eligibility for the 2026 PGA Tour Season.
Winners of events during the FedExCup Fall receive the similar benefits of winners of Full-Field Events during the Regular Season, including 500 FedExCup points, Official World Golf Ranking points, a two-year PGA Tour exemption (exempt thru 2026) and invitations to The Sentry, the Players Championship and PGA Championship.
The Aon Next 10 is an eligibility pathway that awards access into Signature Events (outside of The Sentry), recognizing the top 10 players, not otherwise exempt, from the FedExCup standings; Nos. 51-60 in the final FedExCup Fall standings at the conclusion of The RSM Classic will serve as the Aon Next 10 for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.
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