He made his name at Augusta National playing alongside Tiger Woods as an amateur, and now Neal Shipley will be a full PGA Tour member from next season.
Welcome to the PGA Tour, Neal Shipley.
The 24-year-old became something of a cult hero at the 2024 Masters – for his Butler Cabin side-eye meme just as much as his brilliant play en route to playing alongside Tiger Woods on Sunday and finishing as the low amateur at Augusta National.
And now he will be taking his talents to the PGA Tour after a stellar season on the Korn Ferry Tour. Shipley won two Korn Ferry events in 2025, impressively mounting final-round comebacks to claim both, while he also has seven other top-10s to his name.
In addition, Shipley played two PGA Tour events in 2025, finishing in a tie for 47th at the Valspar Championship in March before missing the cut in May’s Charles Schwab Challenge.
Currently 85th in the Official World Golf Ranking and 131st in Data Golf‘s metric, Shipley follows Johnny Keefer and Austin Smotherman in graduating from the PGA Tour’s feeder circuit this year and is sure to be a fan favourite in 2026.
After firing rounds of 71, 76, 80 and 73 to finish in a tie for 53rd at Augusta National, Shipley stole the show in the Butler Cabin alongside champion Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm.
The meme that was birthed that Sunday went viral and shot him to immediate fame.
Explaining what happened, Shipley said on The Pat McAfee Show: “I was so nervous, the last thing I wanted to do was swear on national TV or say something stupid. I also didn’t want to speak out of turn so I was trying to look at the teleprompter to know what was going on so I knew my cues. Dumbass.
“We go back to our party house, I’ve had a few IC Lights, and all the sudden my family is like, ‘Have you seen these memes of you?’ and start absolutely roasting me for the next three hours.”
His early notoriety also earned him a starring role when golf was given the Netflix treatment. And in Full Swing, Shipley continued to endear himself to the audience just by being himself.
He will be considered a first-year member of the PGA Tour in 2026 rather than a rookie given his eight starts in 2024 but can secure an early promotion if he lands a third Korn Ferry win before the end of the season.
After winning the award for low amateur award at the 2024 Masters, Shipley repeated the feat at the US Open two months later, following in the footsteps of Viktor Hovland who was the last player to do that double in 2019.
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Golf writer and wannabe darts player.
