PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It wasn’t said to put pressure on him or to make some kind of Joe Namath statement of pulling up a huge upset. Central Catholic HS grad and amateur golfer Neal Shipley qualified to play in the Masters starting Thursday, his father joined the Big K Morning Show on 100.1 FM and AM 1020 KDKA.
“When he plays his best, he can pull off anything,” said Neal Shipley (the father) to Larry Richert and Marty Griffin.
“Anything is possible, someone has to win this thing.”
Shipley added his son is a competitor and that is his goal.
“No matter if you are playing with your buddies out at the club or whether you’re playing out at Augusta. Neal is the kind of kid, he wants to win.”
Shipley said his son, currently a graduate student at Ohio State, is pretty reserved about the whole situation. He got an opportunity to play Augusta National in January, so he’s seen the course. Father said his son is in the right headspace, so far.
“Naturally he understands this is something entirely different,” Shipley told KDKA Radio. “He is not overwrought with the situation at all. I think he’s very, very focused without being uptight or nervous, at the moment. I’m sure it’s going to hit him when he gets to the first tee.”
“He’s been very, very purposeful about staying in that mindset that this is just another golf course and just another golf tournament. He jokes that it’s a very, very nice golf course, but he just has to approach it like it’s another golf course and go out and play my best.”
Shipley qualified for the Masters and US Open in 2024 by finishing runner-up in the 2023 US Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club in Colorado. He won the Southwestern Invitational in California with the Buckeyes this year. He finished second in three other big tournaments last summer.
He’s also trying to do something that only Arnold Palmer has done before-win Junior and Open titles in Western Pennsylvania and the Masters.
“There is nothing that can bring you more joy than watching your kids achieve their goals,” Shipley’s father told Richert and Griffin. “This is certainly been a goal of Neal’s since they’ve been able to swing a club.”
Now here they are with their son at the first golf major of the year and he’s playing in it.
Three times amateurs have finished runner-up at Augusta. The closest finish in recent years was Ryan Moore ending up tied for 13th in 2005. He may not win it but it seems being one of only 89 with the opportunity to win a Green Jacket, is already a victory.