Neal Shipley is a graduate student at Ohio State University and qualified for The Masters after coming in second at The 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship.
He was the lone amateur to make the cut at Augusta National, and while he did not play his best, the youngster still won The Masters week.
“Playing with Tiger, Sunday at the Masters, the whole week, I think I have to win one of these things to kind of top this week. Definitely been a dream week,” Shipley said.
After a disappointing 8-over 80 Saturday, Shipley quickly changed his tune when he learned Tiger Woods was his playing partner for Masters Sunday.
“I wasn’t too pleased after the round. We went quickly to the practice facility to get some work in,” Shipley explained. “My caddie came up to me and said, “Hey, guess who we are going to be paired with tomorrow”? I was just like, “No way it’s Tiger.” And he said, “Yeah.” I got pretty excited, and that’s when the emotions turned around.”
Not many get to say they played with Woods on a Sunday at Augusta National and beat him, no less, but Shipley does.
“Being out there with Tiger, we were chatting. We talked a lot about golf, Charlie and normal things,” Shipley said. “He’s such a normal guy and cool. He was great to me all day. Couldn’t be more appreciative of him being awesome today, and it was cool to be around him and the attention he gets and the roars. The crowds were phenomenal.”
The amateur shot a 1-over 73 on Sunday, while Tiger carded a 5-over 77.
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Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images
When they got to the range on Sunday morning, reality sunk in that he would actually be playing with Tiger.
“I definitely think it’s one of my more relaxed rounds of the week,” Shipley said. “I think Tiger made me feel really welcomed. I mean, he was cool, chatting it up. It was just kind of a cool, casual round with Tiger, you know, other than you’re here at the Masters.”
On Sunday, Shipley lived out many golfers’ dreams, and it will be a core memory he will not soon forget.
The 22-year-old will also be in the field at Valhalla for the PGA Championship in May.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.
