LGHL Ohio State golfer Neal Shipley vying to be low amateur at the U.S. Open
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Ohio State golfer Neal Shipley vying to be low amateur at the U.S. Open
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
The runner-up at the 2023 U.S. Amateur has been entertaining the crowds at Pinehurst this week.
Of the two Ohio State Buckeyes who teed it up for the 2024 U.S. Open this week in North Carolina, one was able to make the cut to play the weekend at Pinehurst, Course No. 2.
Neal Shipley is looking to continue his outstanding run as an amateur over the past year. Following finishing as the runner-up in the 2023 U.S. Amateur, Shipley was the low amateur at the 2024 Masters, and paired with Tiger Woods in this year’s final round at Augusta.
Now, Shipley is in contention to be the low amateur at this year’s U.S. Open, which he was able to qualify for when he finished in second at last year’s U.S. Amateur.
Shipley came out firing on Thursday, making birdie on the first hole before giving it right back on the second hole. The Pittsburgh native wouldn’t allow the miscue on the second get him down for too long, as he responded with another birdie on the par-4 fourth hole.
After bogeying the sixth hole, Shipley would finish the front nine with an even-par 35. Shipley would start his back nine with birdies on 10 and 12 before losing the progress he made when he had a double bogey on the par-3 15th hole.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25493011/usa_today_23537478.jpg "PGA: U.S. Open - First Round")
Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Shooting par in the first round put Shipley in a very good position to make the cut. A lot of the success Shipley had on Thursday can be attributed to hitting 12 of 14 fairways, and 15 of 18 greens. Had it not been for some shaky putting, Shipley might have finished the round under par. For the round, Shipley had 33 putts, which is the most of his three rounds this week.
On Friday, Shipley started his round on the 10th hole, and much like the previous day he was able to make birdie early on when he birdied the par-4 11th hole. Also like the first round, he gave the stroke he gained right back on the next hole.
Things got really testy for Shipley late on his first nine holes on Friday when he bogeyed 16, 17, and 18 to drop to +3 for the tournament. With the projected cut moving to +5 in the afternoon, Shipley didn’t have much room for error the rest of the way if he had any dreams of playing the weekend.
Shipley’s second nine on Friday started on the first hole, and again he was able to birdie number one before bogeying hole number two. Then on hole four, Shipley dropped another shot which saw his margin for error when it comes to making the cut shrink even more. Luckily Shipley was able to birdie the par-3 sixth hole and par the final three holes of the second round to finish at +3 and safely secure his spot for the weekend.
While Shipley recorded three less putts than he did in the first round, he hit six less fairways and five less greens. In reality, Shipley’s score on Friday wasn’t all that bad because pretty much everyone in the field struggled to stay close to par for the day.
In Saturday’s third round, Shipley was paired with Aaron Rai of England. Early on Shipley was able to create some noise when he was the first golfer to drive the green on the 316 yard par-4 third hole. To give himself an eagle chance, Shipley was able to work his tee shots in between a couple bunkers in front of the green and bounce it onto the putting surface.
Shipley would wind up making birdie on the hole, and followed it up with another on the fifth hole. The Buckeye really started to heat up towards the end of his front nine, recording birdie on holes 8, 9, and at the start of his back nine on the 10th hole.
Unfortunately things started to come crashing back to earth on the 13th hole when Shipley was penalized a stroke after he set his club down behind the ball and then adjusted his club, which likely caused the ball to move. Even though the ball was on an upslope, since it had been at rest for some time it was determined Shipley was at fault.
Shipley would double bogey the hole and also drop shots at 15 and 16 to finish his third round with a 71. Despite the frustrating penalty, the standout amateur handled the situation with class, accepting the penalty even though he didn’t think he caused the ball to move.
Heading into today’s final round, there are three amateurs who made the cut at Pinehurst. Shipley and Luke Clanton currently both sit at +4, which will setup a fun final round as they compete for low amateur honors.
The Florida State product has rebounded with back-to-back rounds of 69 after opening up the tournament with a 76. The other amateur to play the weekend is Gunner Broin, who had a tough Saturday, shooting an 11-over-par 81. Broin is currently tied for last place at +14 with 2022 U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and S.H. Kim
The other Buckeye in this week’s field didn’t have quite as much fun as Shipley. Maxwell Moldovan was playing in the U.S. Open for the third straight year, making the field as an alternate for the second straight year.
It was evident early on that Moldovan likely wasn’t going to make the cut after he sat at +4 after just six holes. Things would get even worse on the back nine when he bogeyed holes 12-17 to finish his first round with an 80.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25493014/usa_today_23544399.jpg "PGA: U.S. Open - Second Round")
John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Moldovan’s second round opened up on the 10th hole with a bogey before he was able to record his first birdie of the tournament on the par-4 14th hole. The new pro would give that shot back on the next hole, followed by another bogey on 17 before notching his only other birdie of the tournament on the first hole.
Moldovan would go on to shoot 74 in the second round to finish his two days at Pinehurst at +14. At least Moldovan can hang his hat on finishing a stroke ahead of Phil Mickelson!
The final round of the 2024 U.S. Open can be seen on USA starting at 9:00 a.m. ET before coverage shifts to NBC at noon for the rest of Sunday’s action. Shipley and Clanton are paired together for today’s final round to fight it out for low amateur in the tournament. The two will be teeing off at 12:04 p.m. ET.
Heading into today’s final round, Bryson DeChambeau leads at -7, three shots ahead of Matthieu Pavon, Patrick Cantlay, and Rory McIlroy.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
The runner-up at the 2023 U.S. Amateur has been entertaining the crowds at Pinehurst this week.
Of the two Ohio State Buckeyes who teed it up for the 2024 U.S. Open this week in North Carolina, one was able to make the cut to play the weekend at Pinehurst, Course No. 2.
Neal Shipley is looking to continue his outstanding run as an amateur over the past year. Following finishing as the runner-up in the 2023 U.S. Amateur, Shipley was the low amateur at the 2024 Masters, and paired with Tiger Woods in this year’s final round at Augusta.
Now, Shipley is in contention to be the low amateur at this year’s U.S. Open, which he was able to qualify for when he finished in second at last year’s U.S. Amateur.
Shipley came out firing on Thursday, making birdie on the first hole before giving it right back on the second hole. The Pittsburgh native wouldn’t allow the miscue on the second get him down for too long, as he responded with another birdie on the par-4 fourth hole.
After bogeying the sixth hole, Shipley would finish the front nine with an even-par 35. Shipley would start his back nine with birdies on 10 and 12 before losing the progress he made when he had a double bogey on the par-3 15th hole.
Shooting par in the first round put Shipley in a very good position to make the cut. A lot of the success Shipley had on Thursday can be attributed to hitting 12 of 14 fairways, and 15 of 18 greens. Had it not been for some shaky putting, Shipley might have finished the round under par. For the round, Shipley had 33 putts, which is the most of his three rounds this week.
On Friday, Shipley started his round on the 10th hole, and much like the previous day he was able to make birdie early on when he birdied the par-4 11th hole. Also like the first round, he gave the stroke he gained right back on the next hole.
Things got really testy for Shipley late on his first nine holes on Friday when he bogeyed 16, 17, and 18 to drop to +3 for the tournament. With the projected cut moving to +5 in the afternoon, Shipley didn’t have much room for error the rest of the way if he had any dreams of playing the weekend.
Shipley’s second nine on Friday started on the first hole, and again he was able to birdie number one before bogeying hole number two. Then on hole four, Shipley dropped another shot which saw his margin for error when it comes to making the cut shrink even more. Luckily Shipley was able to birdie the par-3 sixth hole and par the final three holes of the second round to finish at +3 and safely secure his spot for the weekend.
While Shipley recorded three less putts than he did in the first round, he hit six less fairways and five less greens. In reality, Shipley’s score on Friday wasn’t all that bad because pretty much everyone in the field struggled to stay close to par for the day.
In Saturday’s third round, Shipley was paired with Aaron Rai of England. Early on Shipley was able to create some noise when he was the first golfer to drive the green on the 316 yard par-4 third hole. To give himself an eagle chance, Shipley was able to work his tee shots in between a couple bunkers in front of the green and bounce it onto the putting surface.
Shipley would wind up making birdie on the hole, and followed it up with another on the fifth hole. The Buckeye really started to heat up towards the end of his front nine, recording birdie on holes 8, 9, and at the start of his back nine on the 10th hole.
Unfortunately things started to come crashing back to earth on the 13th hole when Shipley was penalized a stroke after he set his club down behind the ball and then adjusted his club, which likely caused the ball to move. Even though the ball was on an upslope, since it had been at rest for some time it was determined Shipley was at fault.
Shipley would double bogey the hole and also drop shots at 15 and 16 to finish his third round with a 71. Despite the frustrating penalty, the standout amateur handled the situation with class, accepting the penalty even though he didn’t think he caused the ball to move.
Heading into today’s final round, there are three amateurs who made the cut at Pinehurst. Shipley and Luke Clanton currently both sit at +4, which will setup a fun final round as they compete for low amateur honors.
The Florida State product has rebounded with back-to-back rounds of 69 after opening up the tournament with a 76. The other amateur to play the weekend is Gunner Broin, who had a tough Saturday, shooting an 11-over-par 81. Broin is currently tied for last place at +14 with 2022 U.S. Open champion Matthew Fitzpatrick and S.H. Kim
The other Buckeye in this week’s field didn’t have quite as much fun as Shipley. Maxwell Moldovan was playing in the U.S. Open for the third straight year, making the field as an alternate for the second straight year.
It was evident early on that Moldovan likely wasn’t going to make the cut after he sat at +4 after just six holes. Things would get even worse on the back nine when he bogeyed holes 12-17 to finish his first round with an 80.
Moldovan’s second round opened up on the 10th hole with a bogey before he was able to record his first birdie of the tournament on the par-4 14th hole. The new pro would give that shot back on the next hole, followed by another bogey on 17 before notching his only other birdie of the tournament on the first hole.
Moldovan would go on to shoot 74 in the second round to finish his two days at Pinehurst at +14. At least Moldovan can hang his hat on finishing a stroke ahead of Phil Mickelson!
The final round of the 2024 U.S. Open can be seen on USA starting at 9:00 a.m. ET before coverage shifts to NBC at noon for the rest of Sunday’s action. Shipley and Clanton are paired together for today’s final round to fight it out for low amateur in the tournament. The two will be teeing off at 12:04 p.m. ET.
Heading into today’s final round, Bryson DeChambeau leads at -7, three shots ahead of Matthieu Pavon, Patrick Cantlay, and Rory McIlroy.
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