Mt. Lebanon native, Central Catholic product Neal Shipley earns first professional victory; working toward Oakmont homecoming at U.S. Open

The date is naturally sticking out in Neal Shipley’s mind.

With the U.S. Open set to return to Oakmont Country Club for the 10th time this summer, it would be an understatement to suggest the Mt. Lebanon native and 2019 Central Catholic graduate is merely eyeing a potential return to competitive action in his hometown over the second week of June.

“Oakmont is a place that means a lot to me in my golf career,” Shipley said Monday evening. “I was able to watch the ’07 and the ’16 Open there. I think being on property for both of those — I was 6 years old, and then in ’16 I would have been 15 years old — being able to be there for those moments and see those pros play, I think, that played a huge role in me wanting to try and compete with the best in the world.

“I’d love to go back there and hopefully inspire a lot of young kids from Western Pennsylvania to go chase their dreams of potentially being the next golfing great from the area.”

The two-time PIAA Class 3A champion, who played NCAA golf at James Madison and Ohio State, took a major step toward that end over Easter weekend.

Shipley outlasted Seungtaek Lee, of South Korea, in a fifth sudden-death playoff hole to win his first professional event Saturday at the Korn Ferry Tour’s LECOM Suncoast Classic at Lakewood National Golf Club in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.

The Korn Ferry Tour is a set of developmental tournaments for the PGA Tour.

“Winning takes care of a lot of things,” Shipley said. “It’s nice to have a lot of things taken care of, like having my Korn Ferry Tour card wrapped up this year and next year, and not having to worry about all the other nuanced B.S. about getting into the field. It’s nice to be able to just focus on my golf for the rest of the season.”

With the 7-under 64 he shot in the final round to force the playoff in the LECOM Suncoast Classic at 18 under, Shipley placed himself at third on the Korn Ferry Tour’s points list. The top 20 players on the tour each season earn automatic exemptions to the PGA Tour for the following year.

For Shipley, though, there are two paths to Oakmont this season.

If he can win two additional Korn Ferry events before June, Shipley would earn an automatic promotion to the PGA Tour for the rest of this season. He already has exempt status into the final round of U.S. Open qualifying.

Shipley spent the day Monday playing a practice round at Texas Rangers Golf Club in Arlington, Texas, in anticipation for this weekend’s Veritex Bank Championship — the next event on the Korn Ferry Tour.

There will be six Korn Ferry Tour events before the U.S. Open’s first round begins June 12 in Oakmont.

“There’s always pressure involved when you want to win,” said Shipley, who last played at Oakmont competitively in the 2021 U.S. Amateur Championship. “You’ve got to want to win. That’s why we play and why we work so hard at it. There’s definitely pressure, but I’ve always felt like my game is good enough that even if I didn’t win [Saturday] I would be able to take care of business down the road.”

Shipley played in 10 PGA Tour events as an amateur in 2024. The now 24-year-old finished as low amateur just a year ago at the Masters and U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in Pinehurst, N.C.

After playing three seasons at James Madison, Shipley transferred to Ohio State in 2023 and carded the Buckeyes’ low score through the final stroke play cut, earning All-American honorable mention status at the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. He then posted three second-place finishes at Elite Amateur Series events in the run up to the 2023 U.S. Amateur Championship at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colo., just outside of Denver.

Shipley finished as runner-up at the U.S. Amateur Championship that year.

With that kind of experience in tow, Shipley said he was comfortable in another high-level situation to bring home his first professional victory. He posted seven birdies between hole Nos. 4 and 11 to get into contention down the stretch.

“I knew I was playing well,” Shipley said. “I didn’t have a great round on [Friday], but once we kind of made the turn on [Saturday], and I had made a birdie on 10 and 11, I had a really good feeling that I had a really good chance I could make one or two more coming in.”

Now, Shipley said he will focus on refining his game over the next few Korn Ferry Tour events.

“I think my game suits the PGA Tour really well,” Shipley said. “When you come to the Korn Ferry Tour, we are playing courses that aren’t as long. You don’t need to hit as many long irons, so I have a lot more wedge opportunities. I’ve found myself getting to work a lot of my wedges and get those sharper and a better place.”