AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | As if Masters week hadn’t been going well enough for Neal Shipley, he ended it Sunday in two of golf’s most coveted spots at Augusta National: a final-round pairing with Tiger Woods and a reserved seat in Butler Cabin.
“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,” he said.
Shipley, a 22-year-old Ohio State graduate student from Pittsburgh, was the only amateur to make the 36-hole cut at the 88th Masters. He savored what he called a “dream week” after shooting 1-over 73 on Sunday for a 12-over 300 total to earn the Silver Cup as low amateur and a post-round date with CBS TV’s Jim Nantz in Butler Cabin.
Shipley described his final round as “definitely one of my more relaxed rounds of the week,” despite the massive crowds and swirling excitement that accompanies Woods around Augusta National.
“Tiger made me feel really welcomed,” Shipley said of the five-time Masters winner who was low amateur in his 1995 Masters debut. “I mean, he was cool, chatting it up. Just kind of a cool, like, casual round with Tiger, you know, other than you're here at the Masters.”
Shipley, a husky 6 feet 3 inches with flowing shoulder-length brown hair, doesn’t fit the mold of the modern flat-bellied touring pro, describing himself as “a normal-looking dude with long hair.” He thinks that look was part of his appeal this week.
“I don't really look like most golfers,” he said. “I just have a great attitude on the golf course. I kind of show my emotion, and I think that's kind of why people like me.”
Shipley made four birdies, including on three of the par-5s, in a final round that he alternately described as “cool,” “awesome” and “phenomenal.” Of course, being paired with Woods, clad in his traditional Sunday red and playing his 100th career round at Augusta National, had plenty to do with it.
“We were not too close to the lead, so I wasn't too nervous,” said Shipley, who had childhood friend Carter Pitcairn on the bag. “But when we got here this morning and saw Tiger on the range, it was like, Oh, my gosh; this is actually happening.”
Shipley showed the patrons a magical touch at the par-5 second hole. After having short-sided himself with an approach that was short of the right-hand bunker, he flopped a pitch into the middle of the green and let the slope feed the ball toward the traditional back-right Sunday pin. The ball stopped inches from the hole for a tap-in birdie.
With his first major championship behind him, Shipley will turn his attention back to the college schedule. The Buckeyes will wrap up their spring regular-season schedule this month with two consecutive events in Columbus – the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate at OSU’s Scarlet Course and the Big Ten Championship at Scioto Country Club – before NCAA regional play.
After the college season, Shipley intends to play the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in June as an amateur and then decide about his future. Professional golf is a certainty, though he’s not quite sure when and where.
“What's going to help me out a lot is just knowing that my game can compete out here and I don't need to do anything special to make cuts,” said Shipley, who earned the Masters invitation with a runner-up finish to Nick Dunlap in the 2023 U.S. Amateur. (Dunlap turned professional after winning the PGA Tour’s American Express in January and qualified for the Masters with the victory. He missed the cut.) “When I was just kind of doing my thing and not doing anything special, that was good enough to make the cut and compete out here and beat a lot of players that are on the PGA Tour.”
Hagestad, a 33-year-old Californian who recently relocated to Florida, has competed in the past four Walker Cup matches for the victorious American team.
The other four amateurs who missed the 6-over 150 cut:
• Stewart Hagestad (74-78–152): Playing in his third Masters, Hagestad was well within the projected cut line early in the second round after he birdied the first hole Friday to get to 1-over. But five bogeys over the next 15 holes brought him to the edge before a double bogey at the 18th dashed any hopes of playing the weekend at Augusta. Hagestad, a 33-year-old Californian who recently relocated to Florida, has competed in the past four Walker Cup matches for the victorious American team. He qualified for three previous Masters appearances by winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur titles in 2016, 2021 and 2023. Hagestad earned the Masters’ Silver Cup as low amateur in 2017, finishing T-36.
• Christo Lamprecht (74-78–152): Eight holes into his Masters debut, the lanky South African stood near the top of the leaderboard at 3-under. It didn’t last. Three consecutive bogeys, on Nos. 9-11, brought the world’s top-ranked amateur back to level par, and a triple-bogey 8 on No. 15 tarnished an otherwise solid opening round. He was in position to make the cut late Friday but bogeyed three of his final five holes as the wind howled. “It was probably the toughest back nine of my life,” he said. Lamprecht, a 6-foot-8-inch Georgia Tech senior and the reigning British Amateur champion, led the Masters field in driving distance through two rounds at 327.9 yards. At No. 2 in the PGA Tour University Ranking, Lamprecht will turn pro after the college season ends in late May. “My golf game is ready,” he told GGP’s Scott Michaux before the Masters. Two stormy days in Augusta shouldn’t change that assessment.
• Santiago de la Fuente (76-78–154): The 22-year-old Mexican, the reigning Latin America Amateur champion, leaves Augusta with a nice pair of crystal goblets and a memorable lesson in his golf development. De la Fuente enjoyed a fast start Thursday, but it didn’t last. He holed a 9-foot putt for eagle at the par-5 eighth, good for some commemorative crystal, and rolled in an 8-footer for birdie at No. 10 to get to 2-under in the first round. But he played the final wind-whipped 26 holes in 12-over to fall well off the cut. “It’s just one more lesson, and I have a lot of room left to learn, grow and get better and hopefully get back here one day.” De la Fuente, a four-time collegiate champion and a senior at the University of Houston, holds exemptions to the U.S. Open and Open Championship.
• Jasper Stubbs (80-76–156): Despite playing in conditions that he “couldn’t imagine,” the reigning Asia-Pacific Amateur champion came away with some insight as to what it will take to become a successful professional. After standing even par through eight holes, Stubbs played his last four holes of the first round in 6-over. After a second-day 76 that included three birdies, the 22-year-old Australian was out. “To learn about, like, the course and the style of golf you need to play to be a professional golfer competing in major championships is a great opportunity and not one that I take lightly.” He holds an exemption into the Open this summer at Royal Troon.
Steve Harmon