“I Feel Super Blessed”: Neal Shipley’s Rapid Rise from Ohio State to PGA Tour Fueled by Work Ethic, Belief
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Dan Hope on September 18, 2025 at 7:35 am
@dan_hope
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When Neal Shipley transferred to Ohio State in 2022, he never would have imagined he’d earn his PGA Tour card just three years later.
At the time Shipley arrived in Columbus from James Madison, he felt like he was “miles and miles away” from reaching the sport’s highest level. He had a modest scoring average of just 73.2 during his career at JMU, so there wasn’t much reason to believe he was on the fast track to stardom.
But Ohio State men’s golf coach Jay Moseley saw an edge, work ethic and sense of belief in Shipley that made him believe Shipley had the potential for greatness.
“About three years ago, in that room right over there, Neal and his dad and I met, and at that point, his golf hadn’t done much talking for him. But I could tell, and I could see it in the look of him and his dad’s eyes, that there was something different about this kid,” Moseley said Wednesday during a ceremony at the Ohio State Golf Club honoring Shipley for earning his PGA TOUR card. “I knew that what we had in intangibles was what the world was going to find out one day.”
Following a strong first season at Ohio State in which Shipley earned honorable mention All-American honors, Shipley’s big breakthrough came at the 2023 U.S. Amateur, where he made a run all the way to the final match. That runner-up finish earned Shipley the opportunity to play in the 2024 edition of The Masters, where he
gained instant fame by earning low amateur honors. He followed that up by leading Ohio State to the NCAA semifinals, then earning another low amateur finish at the 2024 U.S. Open, after which he began his professional career.
Now, in just one season on the Korn Ferry Tour, Shipley has secured membership on the PGA Tour for 2026. While there are still three events to go in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals, which brought him back to Ohio State this week to play in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship, Shipley clinched his PGA Tour card in August after two wins and a string of five consecutive top-10 finishes.
As Shipley stood Wednesday on the golf course he called home for two years as a Buckeye, he reflected on the whirlwind that the last two years have been.
“It's crazy that two years ago was the U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills, and I feel like that week has changed my life,” Shipley said. “I've been able to take advantage of a lot of opportunities from that, and I feel super blessed that I've been able to capitalize when it's mattered.”
Shipley always believed he had the ability to play on the PGA Tour, but he thought it would take longer to get there than it has.
“I definitely felt like it was a possibility. I felt like I was miles and miles away from it, and I certainly didn't envision myself two years out of college hitting the PGA Tour right away,” Shipley said. “This has been at a much more rapid pace than I anticipated, but a certainly welcomed pace.”
Shipley had to battle just to make Ohio State’s tournament lineup when he arrived in Columbus, and it wasn’t until late in his career that he emerged as the top player on a team that also featured another All-American, Maxwell Moldovan, who’s currently playing on PGA Tour Americas (the third-tier tour of the PGA Tour system). He believes the competition he faced from his Buckeye teammates played a big part in preparing him for professional success.
“They pushed me really hard when I was here, and I think they showed me what I needed to improve on,” Shipley said. “When I got here, I certainly wasn't the best player. I was just kind of barely making the lineup. And it was great to have some really good players around me, and coaches as well, that helped me learn how I needed to improve to get to the Tour. And I think my work ethic kind of took over, and I just kept working hard on the right things.”
Moseley told
Eleven Warriors that he’s never coached a player harder than he’s coached Shipley. Moseley said Shipley always wanted to be challenged during his Ohio State career, and Moseley believes that’s a big reason why Shipley has reached golf’s top tier.
Neal Shipley never imagined reaching the PGA Tour less than two years after finishing his Ohio State career, but OSU coach Jay Moseley always saw star potential in Shipley.
www.elevenwarriors.com
