Ohio State Buckeyes Golfer Neal Shipley Cards 71 In Round 1 of The Masters

Ohio State Buckeyes standout golfer Neal Shipley is one of just five amateurs playing in this year's 88th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.

Ohio State Buckeyes standout golfer Neal Shipley is one of just five amateurs playing in this year's 88th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. Shipley gained the honor by finishing second in last summer's U.S. Amateur.

In Thursday's opening round, Shipley shot a 1-under 71 in his first-ever competitive round at Augusta, good enough to be tied for 17th going into Friday's second round.

Apr 11, 2024; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Neal Shipley plans out his second shot from the trees on No. 2

Katie Goodale, Katie Goodale / USA TODAY

Shipley holds some big-name company at T17, with names like Tony Finau, Rory McIlroy, and Tiger Woods all sharing the 1-under score after one round.

Shipley carded three birdies on holes 3, 7, and 13 and bogeyed 5 and 15 while scoring pars on the rest. The OSU graduate student is the low amateur through the first round.

“Augusta fits my game well. It favors the guy who hits great iron shots and is really a good driver of the golf ball,” Shipley said last month in preparation for the Masters, which he qualified for by finishing runner-up at the U.S. Amateur last summer. “Putting is really important there, but the bottom line is you have to hit a lot of greens to score. I feel like my ball striking is right up there with some of the guys on tour.”

Shipley struggled to find greens in regulation just eight of 18 (44.4 percent) while the rest of the field averaged 60 percent. Where Shipley excelled on Thursday was on the putting surface. He needed just 1.39 putts per hole. That's better than the field average of 1.64.

Shipley is scheduled to tee off at 8:24 a.m. ET on Friday to begin his second round at Augusta.