Former Alabama All-American Justin Thomas spent Jan. 21 trying to catch Nick Dunlap during the final round of the PGA Tour’s American Express. He couldn’t do it. Neither could anybody else, and the Crimson Tide golfer became the first amateur to win a PGA Tour tournament since 1991.

While Dunlap couldn’t accept the $1.512 million first-place prize money after shooting 29 under in the tournament, the victory offered the opportunity for full status on the PGA Tour. No need for another sponsor exemption to play with the world’s best golfers.

Last week in Tuscaloosa, Dunlap announced he would leave the Alabama men’s golf team for the PGA Tour. He’ll make his pro debut on Thursday at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am at the Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California.

On Tuesday, Thomas was asked what advice he would give Dunlap as he embarks on his PGA Tour career.

Thomas said he had given Dunlap that advice already.

“I think for him, it’s going to – and I told him this, I talked to him a little bit last week – of just remember who he is and stay true to that,” Thomas said. “I think it’s very easy for any rookie, it doesn’t matter if they’re 20, 30 or 40, when you have access to the equipment trucks, when you have access to all these coaches, trainers, caddies, whatever it is, it’s easy to want to tinker and want to change. Everybody’s different in that regard, but I just think it’s important to kind of whatever he’s always done to continue to do that because I think it’s easy to get a little bit taken over by the opportunity to, like, you have all this access and ‘Why wouldn’t I kind of change and try some stuff?’ When in reality, that’s probably not for the best.”

The 2023 U.S. Amateur champion, Dunlap is on a unique PGA Tour path, Thomas said, after his victory vaulted 20-year-old Alabama native from 4,129th to 68th in the Official World Golf Ranking.

“Nick is very fortunate,” Thomas said. “His first year on tour is monumentally different than I think everybody’s first year on tour out right now. We happened to be at dinner at the same place last night … and he looked tired. He was like, ‘Man, I’m so tired.’ And I was like, ‘Dude, I don’t really care. Like, you should be sleeping right now getting ready to go to class tomorrow morning, and I’m pretty sure all your teammates would happily switch with you, so be careful who you say that to.’

“I was needling him, giving him a hard time.”

A two-time major champion, Thomas also is playing at Pebble Beach this week in one of the new-look PGA Tour’s Signature Events. These tournaments have smaller fields with increased pursues and FedEx Cup points at stake.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.