Neal Shipley will have a seat in Butler Cabin on Sunday.
The Ohio State golfer clinched low amateur honors at The Masters as the only amateur among five in this year’s field to make the cut to the weekend.
Neal will be around for the weekend!!
— Ohio State Mens Golf (@OhioStateMGOLF) April 12, 2024
Only amateur to make the cut and hes in the Top 40 #GoBucks #themasters pic.twitter.com/TTr9kb4cxm
Shipley shot 3-over for the first two rounds of the tournament to make the cut, which ended up at 6-over. Shipley will enter the weekend tied for 30th on the leaderboard.
The fifth-year senior Buckeye was tied for 14th after shooting a 1-under 71 in his first-ever round at a major tournament. He didn’t perform as well on Friday, shooting a 4-over 76, but that was good enough for Shipley to survive the cut on a windy day where only eight players finished under par.
Shipley will join a list of golfers to earn low amateur honors at The Masters that includes some of golf’s biggest names. He becomes the second Buckeye to win the Silver Cup as The Masters’ low amateur, joining Ohio State legend Jack Nicklaus (1960), who went on to win the Masters six times, still a tournament record. Other notable golfers who won low amateur honors before starting their professional careers include Ben Crenshaw (1972 and 1973), Curtis Strange (1976), Phil Mickelson (1991), Tiger Woods (1995), Matt Kuchar (1998), Sergio Garcia (1999), Hideki Matsuyama (2011), Patrick Cantlay (2012), Bryson DeChambeau (2016) and Viktor Hovland (2019).
Shipley will play with Cantlay in the third round with the pairing teeing off at 12:15 p.m. Saturday.
Shipley will return to Ohio State after The Masters to complete his final season of collegiate golf before starting his pursuit of a professional career, but he’s proven with his performance in the first two days at Augusta National that he’s already capable of competing with the sport’s best players.
