The Augusta connections for Neal Shipley seem obvious. The U.S. Amateur runner-up shares a couple of natural links to Masters royalty.
For a Pittsburgh kid who caddied at Oakmont, to walk in the footsteps of western Pennsylvania golf giant Arnold Palmer is intoxicating. Shipley’s link to the late King only intensified at Cherry Hills, where he was the only player in the U.S. Amateur field last summer to match Palmer’s famous 1960 U.S. Open feat of driving the first green using a persimmon driver during a pre-tournament challenge.
For an Ohio State golfer, Shipley has another link to the greatest of all Buckeyes and the Masters’ greatest champion, Jack Nicklaus. Of all the Augusta traditions the 23-year-old graduate student in Columbus, Ohio, is most looking forward to, being on the first tee to see Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tom Watson hit the ceremonial opening tee shots ranks No. 1.
Yet with those heady connections, it might surprise people to know what Masters champion is most responsible for Shipley’s entry into the game and whom he is most looking forward to meeting in April.
“I think it was 2004 when Vijay Singh won the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits,” Shipley said. “I was 4 years old or 3 years old at the time, not a golfer yet, and I watched it with my dad for some reason. And he doesn’t golf.
“Then the next day, I started swinging clubs around. And that’s kind of like where I got my start. Vijay Singh was one of those guys that kind of inspired me to start. … It’s not something that I modeled my game after necessarily, but definitely someone that as I was growing up I looked up to as a good player. Back then, Tiger [Woods] was the guy, so it’s kind of funny that I didn’t pick Tiger.”
Shipley himself would seem to be an unlikely candidate to inspire young golfers, but he did just that with his star turn in the U.S. Amateur semifinals at Cherry Hills. His path to the Masters is a little different than those of most top-quality amateurs.
“At some point in your college career, every golfer has to make that tough decision, and I wanted to make sure that my clubs were doing the talking and in that decision.” – Neal Shipley
Shipley played three seasons at James Madison University in Virginia, completing in just three years a quantitative finance degree as well as minors in math and economics. With a World Amateur Golf Ranking of 1,497th while at JMU, he seemed much more destined to join a handful of his teammates for a post-graduate career on Wall Street.
Instead, Shipley put his name in the transfer portal to see what he could do with two more years of college eligibility. Ohio State came calling, and he ended up getting more than just a master’s degree in data analytics.
“At James Madison, I hadn’t really broken out yet,” he said. “At some point in your college career, every golfer has to make that tough decision, and I wanted to make sure that my clubs were doing the talking and in that decision.
“I had a lot of options, and Ohio State was clearly the best team where I would be challenged the most to play. It certainly was not a for-sure thing that I was going to be starting there. … But at the end of the day, part of that process was to figure out if I can play with these guys.”
Earning his place on a roster that includes Maxwell Moldovan, who climbed as high as No. 15 in the WAGR, brought out the best in Shipley. He’d already won the Western Pennsylvania Open and Pennsylvania Amateur in 2022 shortly after transferring, but it was near the end of his first season with the Buckeyes that his confidence kicked into a new gear with strong showings in the NCAA regional and championship – sitting second in the latter heading into the final stroke-play round.
“After the first semester, I kind of figured out that like, yeah, I can play here, and if I can play these guys, I can play with anyone,” he said. “At that point, too, I made the decision that I think professional golf could be in my future.”
With that new mindset last summer, Shipley went on a relative heater, finishing runner-up in the Dogwood, Sunnehanna and Trans-Miss and third in the Pacific Coast Amateur before his march to the final at Cherry Hills.
“I probably should have won one of those … I kind of gave [the Trans-Miss] away. But I was in the hunt every week I was playing,” Shipley said. “So when I got to the U.S. Amateur, I knew that I could play with everyone and I can beat the Gordon Sargents of the world if I’m playing well … especially in one-on-one match play like the U.S. Amateur. I’m hard to beat because when I’m playing well, I hit a ton of greens, and you force guys to make birdie to beat you.”
It was at Cherry Hills where Shipley really made a name for himself. He rose to viral fame on social media during his 2-and-1 semifinal victory over John Marshall Butler. Shipley was 3 down through 10 but won five of the last seven holes. The match clincher came on the par-5 17th hole when he spun his wedge from 93 yards about 30 feet across the green to within inches of the cup. The fired-up Shipley high-fived his caddie, high school friend Carter Pitcairn, and dozens more fans as he bounded toward the green with his long brown hair bouncing along with him.
“I actually thought it was gonna kind of spin off into the water at first because I did it earlier in the week in the practice round,” he said of the shot that essentially lifted him to a spot in the Masters and June’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst. “That’s what I was most worried about, but once it kind of got halfway there, I kind of knew … that was really cool. I don’t really remember the whole walk up there. I mean, I can see the videos, but it got a little blurry.”
His momentum came up short a day later against Nick Dunlap in the 36-hole championship match, 4 and 3. But his legend was made with that dramatic shot and his inimitable reaction.
“My friends and teammates and they make fun of me and they keep me grounded,” he said. “I think the coolest part actually of it is when you have little kids … like I was at a women’s hockey game and there’s a 9-year-old that came down from the top of the stands and said, ‘Oh, hi Mr. Shipley. How are you?’ While professional golf is great, I think it’s more than just making money. It’s about inspiring the next generation of great competitors, and just to know that I left my mark on some kids like that, it’s really cool.”
Shipley notched his first collegiate win this year at the end of January in the Southwestern Invitational. He has made a couple of scouting trips to Augusta National, where the closest he had ever come before was driving past the gate on Washington Road and then turning around at the Dollar General and driving past the entrance again. “One of the greatest golf courses in the world was just right there, but I couldn’t even see it,” he said.
“Hopefully, at Augusta National I can try to get over the mystique of the whole place and just focus on the golf course.” – Neal Shipley
Now he’ll spend two nights in the Crow’s Nest, attend the Amateur Dinner, play the Par 3 Contest, watch the greatest Buckeye hit the ceremonial first tee shot and then compete at the Masters.
“Hopefully, at Augusta National I can try to get over the mystique of the whole place and just focus on the golf course,” he said.
After another NCAA championship quest, Shipley will try to match what his teammate Moldovan did last year and make the cut in the U.S. Open and then embark on a professional journey he hopes turns out as well as it did for the guy who beat him at Cherry Hills. Dunlap became the first amateur since Phil Mickelson to win a PGA Tour event, claiming the American Express in January, and immediately took up his tour card.
There’s no rush for a kid who has climbed as high as the No. 36 amateur in the world. These last months of pre-professional life are something to savor.
“Oh, gosh. I mean, playing the Masters has been a dream of mine since I was a little kid,” Shipley said when he secured that chance. “When I was in high school, I’d be in class watching coverage on my computer, not doing my schoolwork on Thursday and Friday. I think it’s cool that I’ll be out there, and excited to have a bunch of people with me.”
Maybe even Nicklaus might catch a glimpse of his fellow Buckeye alumnus teeing off.
2024 Masters invitees list, including Shipley and four other amateurs