Low amateur at Masters mum on his talk with Tiger
Neal Shipley passed his biggest test at the Masters without hitting a shot. Faced with a decision – to tell or not to tell – the Ohio State golfer took a bullet for Tiger Woods.
Now he and Eldrick can be friends forever.
I kid, I kid. Kind of.
Before becoming a social media meme for his sideways glances during the green jacket presentation in Butler Cabin Sunday, Shipley, who won low amateur for the week, was part of an awkward exchange with a reporter after completing his final round playing with Woods.
As the media interview session wound down, the reporter asked about a note Woods handed the OSU graduate student in the eighth fairway.
“What was that about?” the reporter asked.
Shipley immediately turned his head to the tournament official conducting the interview session, apparently looking for a little help, as in “What do I do here?” Getting no help, he answered, “No, he didn’t …” At which point the reporter said, “Oh, I thought he wrote something and handed you a piece of paper.”
Shipley didn’t hesitate.
“No, no, that didn’t happen.”
And with that, the 23-year-old Buckeye upheld the “Tiger Woods oath,” which states that anything the 15-time major champion says or does to or for you in private – or in this case in public, seeing as it happened in front of a large gallery – shall remain strictly between you and him. To kiss and tell with Tiger is the kiss of death to any friendship you may ever hope to have with the 48-year-old.
Shipley passed with flying colors, and the interview session ended.
Some are scolding the reporter for asking the question, but he simply was looking to enrich his story with as much detail as possible.
And anyone opting to scold Shipley for lying needs be careful, because the devil is in the details of the wording. The reporter asked about a note. Well, define “note.” Is a signed scorecard a note? Is a telephone number a note? Woods handed Shipley something, but what it was we likely will never know.
Shipley passed the test once. He sure doesn’t want to flunk it now.
As for the oddity that happened inside Butler Cabin, CBS cameras caught Shipley’s eyes twice looking at something off-camera as he sat next to Masters winner Scottie Scheffler, prompting the internet to kick into snarky speculation mode.
“Hostage vibes,” read one Twitter/x post.
“Greg Norman peeking through the window,” wrote another.
My guess? Shipley was nervous and things were happening with cameras and cue cards and whatnot. But I could be wrong. Maybe Tiger was off to the side wagging a finger.