At 44, Dunlap draws closer to a return to PGA TOUR

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Movistar Panama Classic: Results | Leaderboard

He came in to the Movistar Panama Classic, the first event of the Nationwide Tour's 2008 season, with something approaching zero expectations.

Dunlap grinded on the weekend after opening with a 65 in Panama. (WireImage)

And yet, in what has become an annual Central American war of attrition, there was Scott Dunlap on Sunday, the last man standing while proudly hoisting the tournament hardware.

So, Mr. Dunlap, precisely where did this winning performance come from on a golf course that the majority of the contestants described as "brutal?''

"It's just aim and fire sometimes,'' said Dunlap, 44, who won for only the second time in 145 career starts on the Nationwide Tour.

That quip does not tell the whole story. Dunlap came into the season's inaugural ice-cold, having not played a round of golf since before Christmas. And after positioning himself well with a five-under-par 65 in the first round he allowed that he usually finds his game "where he left it.'' Since he missed cuts in events in South Africa and Argentina in December, one can imagine in just what type of receptacle Dunlap found it in January.

The Club de Golf de Panama proved to be the antithesis of "No Country For Old Men,'' since Bill Lunde, 32, was the youngest player among the first five under the finish line. And it turned into a little piece of heaven for Dunlap, a career grinder given to solid ball striking who admits he "has issues'' with his putting stroke.

Here's why.

When asked to provide a report on the conditions during Sunday's final round, Nationwide Tour media official Joe Chemycz said, "It is verrrrrrry windy. Greens are hard. Fairways are harder.''

Naturally so was the golf course, which consistently plays among the toughest on the circuit, without the elements or terra really firma. Consider it yielded a mere four sub-par rounds Sunday, each a one-under 69, and played to an average score 73.677, making it the toughest single day in tournament history. Dunlap was ready for the challenge.

"I can hit good iron shots and two-putt with the best of them,'' he said, only half jokingly. "It was going to be that kind of day.''

So the grinder grinded out a hard-fought one-over 71 and got all the help he needed from the golf course when third-round leader Arjun Awtal and Chris Smith, who entered the final round one stroke back, matched 74 in the trying conditions. When it was all said and done, Dunlap, who owned conditional status for 2008, was the epitome of satisfaction, after earning a two-year membership and a check for $108,000.

Dunlap's win in Panama came on the Nationwide Tour's toughest course. (WIreImage)

"I figured I'd get to play the first month (the Nationwide Tour makes stops in Panama, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand in its first four events), but beyond that there was uncertainty,'' he said. "A conditional player can get lost after the first shuffle if he doesn't perform. Now I'm halfway to being on the PGA TOUR.''

Dunlap, who played full-time in The Big Show for six seasons, paused to consider his sudden turn of good fortune.

"This is beyond my expectations,'' he said after vaulting to the head of the financial class among "The 25'' on the Nationwide Tour, the annual group that graduates to the PGA TOUR provided they remain in one of those spots on the season-ending money list.

Matter of fact, Dunlap believes his game is better suited to winning on the PGA TOUR, where scoring conditions normally are much more demanding than on the Nationwide Tour, which often sees winning totals push or exceed 20-under-par.

"My nemesis always has been the putter,'' he said. "I play my best golf when I'm hitting enough good shots to take the heat off my putter. I have a better chance when the scoring conditions are tough like we had this week.''

Dunlap has tried all sorts of remedies, the majority to no avail. He has settled on going left hand low on putts inside of 10 feet while gripping it conventionally from outside that range. He also has accepted the fact that he will never become the world's best putter.

"I'm 44 and not delusional,'' he said. "Everyone playing this game, with the possible exception of Tiger, has their own issues. I've had down years but I've never lost my way. I'm just as juiced to play now as I ever have been.''

And it's always nice to receive the reward of positive reinforcement that comes with a winning performance south of the border.

"Early on in my career people would always ask me if I was discouraged (because of the lack of results),'' he said. "My answer always was, 'No!' I've never thought about doing anything else.''