Neal Shipley made a name for himself in more ways than one at The Masters.
The Ohio State student graduate won the prestigious Silver Cup as low amateur at the Augusta National Major after he became the only amateur in the field to make the cut.
It got even better for Shipley when he was given a dream pairing with 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods in the last round, concluding an unforgettable tournament for the 23-year-old.
After such an eventful few days, it’s hardly surprising that Shipley received a big welcome when he returned to Ohio State University Golf Club, where, per The Athletic's Gabby Herzig on X, his fellow students gave him a drenching!
A proper welcome back from Augusta National for Neal Shipley The @OhioStateMGOLF crew looks like they have a pretty good time pic.twitter.com/cbEvRi456mApril 16, 2024
Shipley's performance at the Major wasn’t the end of the story, either. Thanks to his heroics, he joined Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley, winner Scottie Scheffler and outgoing champion Jon Rahm at Butler Cabin afterwards for a TV interview that ended up becoming one of the viral moments of the tournament.
During the interview, Shipley spoke about his experience at the tournament, including his round with the living legend, but while he was talking, he continually glanced to his side at something off-camera. That immediately had social media speculating on what he had seen, with images of the side glances soon circulating online in what quickly became an meme.
Shipley has also somehow found the time to appear on The Pat McAfee Show, where he discussed the events of the past week.
🐅🤩 Neal Shipley: "Playing with Tiger Woods was the coolest day of my life and you can't beat that..” pic.twitter.com/3tCkhPavsJApril 16, 2024
On his round with Woods, he said: “That was the coolest day of my life. You can’t beat that. I mean, Tiger was so cool, and that’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime for me. You know, he doesn’t play very much anymore and who knows when I’ll be back in a situation to be playing with him? It was unbelievable.”
Shipley also addressed the elephant in the room - just what on earth had kept distracting him at Butler Cabin? He explained: “I was so nervous. The last thing I wanted to do was swear on national TV or say something stupid, and I also didn’t want to speak out of turn so I was trying to look at the teleprompter so I knew my cues – dumba**!
You've got GREAT periph 😂😂"I was so nervous and I didn't wanna say something stupid..I kept looking at the teleprompter and I looked like a dumbass" 😂😂 ~ Neal Shipley#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/jnlqtQkDYfApril 16, 2024
“I finished up all the presentations and I go back to the party house. I’ve had a few IC Lights, and then all of a sudden, my family is like, “Hey, Neal, have you seen these memes of you?” And I’m like, “What memes? Like, what are you talking about?” And then they start absolutely roasting me for the next three hours about it - it was something else.”
“Something else” neatly sums up Shipley’s impact on the general public, who took to a player with not only the potential for a big future in the game but who brought plenty of fun to the proceedings at the same time.
Fans hoping to see more of Shipley soon are in luck - he's also earned a spot at June's US Open thanks to his runner-up finish at the 2023 US Amateur.
