Neal Shipley, a 22-year-golfer, graduated from Pittsburgh Central Catholic in 2019. He claimed his degree in quantitative finance, a minor in maths and economics within three years at James Madison.
Shipley finished second at the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship last summer, earning his entry into the tournament of the Masters 2024. He played at his college golf, James Madison after shifting from Ohio State.
This week at the Augusta, Carter Pitcairn, a classmate of Shipley will be seen caddying for him.
"I feel ready, I like to feed off this energy and just really enjoy the moment. I don't feel uncomfortable at all." said Shipley to the reporters.
Neal Shipley, a Central Catholic alumni
Neal Shipley stayed outside the city of Pittsburgh, he was a robust kid with dark brown hair and grew to be 6.1 ft high. Shipley is very sharp-minded, which makes him challenging for his opponents.
As an amateur golfer has struggled a lot. He won the 2022 Pennsylvania State Amateur at Llanerch Country Club before Ohio State. He played three seasons at James Madison and transferred as a graduate to Ohio State with the remaining two years of eligibility.
Shipley participated in 16 events for the Dukes, scoring an average of 73.21. He finished T14 at 3- under par at the Rich Harvest Farms Intercollegiate, led JMU with eight rounds of par in just the last 18b chances and kicked off top 10 finishes in 2019-20.
He also helped Pittsburgh Central Catholic reach the first two state championships and finished his second at the qualifier of Scarlet, leading him to the qualifications of the 2021 US Amateur.
Achievements of Neal Shipley in the 2022-23 season
- Top 20 finishes and one Top 10
- 19 rounds at the par, leading team with six eagles
- 20th at Cal Poly Invitational and Puerto Rico Classic
- Finished seventh at Robert Kelper Intercollegiate, Best finish of the year
- Played at NCAA Championships, made 54-hole cut.
- Master's degree in Data Analytics
Career Honors
- PING All-America Honorable Mention (2023)
- OSU- Scholar-Athlete (2023)
- Runner up at the 2023 US Amateur at Cherry Hills
- Three runner-up finishes in 2023
- Finished fourth in the 2023 Elite Amateur Series
Neal Shipley making his debut at the Masters
Shipley made his debut at the Masters 2024 at the age of 22. He showed an impressive performance on Thursday, finishing a 1 under 71. He turned out to be one of the 31 players who shot below par on day one.
Neal is the only amateur to cut scoring more than Rory Mcllroy, John Rahm and Phil Mickelson who have won the Masters in the past. From a Central Catholic alumni to being paired in his debut with the legend Tiger Woods at the Masters 2024.