PGA Tour's Neal Shipley reveals solving SAT math problems during tournament rounds - "I'm a big math guy"

Neal Shipley has revealed that he solves SAT math problems during matches to relieve stress. The American golfer started playing professionally last year after his amazing outing at the Masters and the US Open. He is playing at this week's The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic, a Korn Ferry Tour event.

Ahead of the event, Shipley opened up about his unique hobbies to stay sharper on the greens. He revealed he enjoys solving math problems to clear his mind during the tournaments.

"My caddie last year would print up SAT questions, SAT math problems, and we would do those on the golf course. And we’d come back to the hotel afterward. He’d check my work, make sure you did it right. Got my undergrad in quantitative finance and a minor in math and a minor in economics, so I've always been a big math guy. Big stats guy," Neal Shipley said.

Shipley further opened up about his favorite math equation, saying:

"Ito's lemma. That is probably my favorite equation. It's not kind of an equation. More of a proof, I guess. Out here, you got to wait on par-3 tees or when you have to hit into par-5s, it's really easy just, you know, to bang out a problem really quickly. And so you do that just to try and stay occupied when we had some long rounds out here. Just something that we did on the golf course. Kind of, you know, maybe helped me relax or just kind of get away from the moment at the time."

Neal Shipley will start with his game in 2025 at the Bahamas Great Exuma Classic first round on January 12. It will have its final on January 15.

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A recap of Neal Shipley's performance in 2024

Neal Shipley made headlines last season after his impressive game at the Majors. He played at the Masters, where he played four rounds of 71, 76, 80, and 73, and tied for T53 position. For his performance as an amateur, he was awarded with Low Amateur honors for the match.

Shipley was again awarded the same at the US Open, where he carded four rounds of 70, 73, 71, and 72. With that, he became the ninth amateur player in the game's history to win the Low Amateur honors for the Masters and the US Open in the same year. Speaking of the achievement, he said in 2024 (via ESPN):

"It's been wild. It's been something that maybe three, four years ago I didn't think was possible, and to accomplish all this has just been phenomenal. Just the stuff of dreams really as an amateur to do everything I've done. I think I've checked all the boxes now."

Following the Majors, the American golfer turned pro, and as a professional, he played in a couple of PGA Tour events last season. He played at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and tied for 20th place but then missed the cut at the John Deere Classic. However, he was impressive with his game at the ISCO Championship with four rounds of 67, 65, 65, and 70 and tied for sixth place.

Last season, Neal Shipley played in 10 PGA Tour events and made the cutline in eight.