Ohio State golfer Neal Shipley joins Jack Nicklaus as low-amateur champs at the Masters
Neal Shipley is headed to Butler Cabin, where the Ohio State golfer will rub elbows Sunday with big names in green jackets and see his name listed with Jack Nicklaus as the only OSU players to finish the Masters as low amateur.
Not bad for a guy who until January had never set foot on Augusta National Golf Club.
Shipley, a 23-year-old OSU graduate student who will resume his college season on Monday, was the only amateur to make the 36-hole cut among the six who entered, automatically winning him the title of low am and a brief appearance on national TV. He will be honored in Butler Cabin, where the previous year’s champion slips the green jacket onto the new winner. Nicklaus earned his low-am distinction in 1960, when he finished 13th in pro golf’s first major championship of the season.
Shipley has some work to do to match the Golden Bear’s impressive finish – he is tied for 30th through 36 holes – but just making the cut is an accomplishment. The last Ohio State golfer to do that while still in school was Clark Burroughs in 1984; John Cook did it in 1979 and only Nicklaus before that.
As an amateur, Shipley receives no money from the $20 million purse, but he is expected to turn pro within the next few months. He qualified for the Masters by finishing runner-up at the U.S. Amateur last summer.
For an hour or so early Friday, there was some question whether anyone would get to be celebrated as low amateur, since players must make the cut to qualify for the title. Shipley entered the day T17 after shooting a 1-under-par 71 Thursday. But after teeing off early Friday and starting strong, his game hit some snags.
The Pittsburgh native learned the hard way that golfers better say their prayers entering Amen Corner.
Shipley arrived at the famous three-hole stretch – technically the second shot at No. 11, the entire 12th hole and tee shot at No. 13 – tied for 25th, sitting 1-over for the day and even for the tournament. He left the corner tied for 53rd after taking a double-bogey at 11 and bogey at 12 to drop to 3-over, which at the time put him close to the cut line.
Things were not looking good, but he played the final six holes in even-par to shoot a 76 that kept him at 3-over, ultimately a safe number as 30-mph gusts kept late afternoon scores high.
The cut, projected to be +4 when Shipley finished at 1 p.m., ended up being +6.
"I was certainly thinking about low-am," he said, addressing his expectations entering the week. "I thought I had a chance to compete with all those guys. I thought I showed that (Thursday), in those really tough conditions, to shoot 1-under, that I belong out here. It's just a matter of proving it."
Prove it he did. Shipley rebounded from his struggles at 11 and 12 by carding a scrambling birdie at 13. His tee shot landed in the pine straw right of the fairway but rolled back into the rough, giving him a clear shot at the green. He hit his second shot into the left greenside bunker but got up-and-down for a 4 on the tricky par-5.
It was that kind of roller coaster round. He began the day making two birdies in his first three holes to move from T17 to T7, but conditions got increasingly tougher. He bogeyed holes 4, 7 and 10 and then the struggles at 11 and 12.
The pain continued at 14 with another bogey, but Shipley birdied 15 and finished par-par-bogey to get in at +3, and into Butler Cabin.
"The walk up to 18 on Sunday, I think it's going to be really, really cool," he said. "It would be really cool if I could put in some low numbers this weekend and really climb up that leaderboard."
Shipley, who likes to play fast, is paired with the more methodical Patrick Cantlay on Saturday. The pair tee off at 12:15 p.m.
More on Shipley at Masters: Ohio State golfer Neal Shipley right in the hunt after first round of his first Masters
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 2024 Masters Tournament: How Ohio State golfer Neal Shipley made cut
