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.”
Former OSU Golfer Neal Shipley is on the fast track to stardom. #PGATourBound. He returned to the Scarlet Course this week to compete in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship this weekend. Today, he was honored by his former coach Jay Moseley. #Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/Ozl9HzFFeO
— Kellyanne Stitts (@KellyanneStitts) September 17, 2025
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.
“He’s just different, the way he works, the way he goes about his business,” Moseley said. “He’s got a ton of belief in himself, and he’s just a very, very tactical professional with how methodical and organized he is with whatever it is that he’s trying to accomplish on a given day.”
Because of that, Moseley believes the best is yet to come for Shipley.
“At this point, there’s not much separating him from the best players in the world, and I think he’s shown that,” Moseley said of Shipley, who’s currently 89th in the Official World Golf Ranking. “I think if he gets in contention in majors or Ryder Cup opportunities or whatever, the peak of professional golf, I think he will thrive in any environment because of the way he’s built his mind and his body and his soul.”
Before Shipley begins his first PGA Tour season, he looks to finish strong in what he hopes will be his one and only Korn Ferry Tour season. Currently ranked third on the Korn Ferry Tour points list, Shipley would earn fully exempt status for the 2026 PGA Tour season plus berths in the U.S. Open and The Players Championship if he finishes the year in first.
With 600 points on the line this weekend – just above the number he trails current No. 1 Johnny Keefer by – Shipley certainly has a home-course advantage as the Nationwide Children’s Championship is played on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course. And he’s relishing the opportunity to play a professional tournament at the same place that helped him get where he is now.
“This was circled on the calendar for me for a long time,” Shipley said. “It was always cool as a player here to have the Korn Ferry Tour show up, maybe watch some holes, see a few guys that were Ohio State graduates play here. It definitely feels full circle that now I’m here as the guy on the Korn Ferry Tour.”
“This has been at a much more rapid pace than I anticipated, but a certainly welcomed pace.”– Neal Shipley on reaching the PGA Tour in his second year out of college
Shipley, the first Buckeye to earn a PGA Tour card since Bo Hoag in 2019, says it feels weird to now be the player that current Ohio State golfers are looking up to. But he’s proud to have the opportunity to represent the Buckeyes at the highest level.
“I’m definitely trying to set that standard really high for us,” Shipley said. “I think this should be one of the best golf programs in the country.”
Moseley says Shipley is a “great inspiration” to his team, showing them where playing for Ohio State can take them.
“We’ve always said that Ohio State is a place of opportunity, and you can come here to be anything that you want in terms of golf, life, profession outside of sport,” Shipley said. “This really is a place that you can go as far as you want in the game, and it’s kind of on each guy to kind of take it upon themselves to capitalize on those opportunities, those resources. And Neal is the blueprint of what that can look like.”
The Nationwide Children’s Championship begins Thursday and continues through Sunday. Shipley will begin his first round at 8:10 a.m. Thursday and his second round at 1:15 p.m. Friday. Tickets to attend the tournament are free and can be downloaded from the tournament’s website. Golf Channel will air coverage of the tournament from 3-6 p.m. Thursday and from 1-4 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
