For amateur Neal Shipley, it was a Masters Tournament of memories

Neal Shipley. Remember the name as we will probably be hearing more about him in the years to come from golf tournaments around the world,

The mullet-haired Shipley was the low (best-finishing) amateur at the 88th Masters Tournament, and the young man who got to play his final round at Augusta National Golf Club alongside Tiger Woods. The 23-year-old graduate student at Ohio State was at the Masters on the basis of his runner up finish behind Nick Dunlap at last year’s US Amateur Championship.

Following his victory at the Cherry Hills Country Club in Parker, Colorado, Dunlap went on to win a PGA Tour event as an amateur and turned professional immediately after. Shipley continues to hold amateur status, though for how much longer remains to be seen in the light of his Augusta Masters performance, but it was enough to get him to the year’s first major.

He also has an invitation to play the US Open this June at Pinehurst.

Shipley made the Masters cut after shooting rounds of 71 and 76, the only amateur in the field to qualify for the weekend which also ensured he would win the Silver Cup for Low Amateur. On a windy Saturday, he shot an 8 over par 80 and wasn’t too pleased.

But there was compensation waiting around the corner. Someone else had had a bad day on the course too.

“We went quickly to the practice facility to get some work in,” Shipley told the Augusta National website. “My caddie came up to me and said, ‘Hey, guess who we are going to be paired with tomorrow?’

“I was just like, ‘No way it's Tiger,’ and he said, ‘Yeah.’"

“We were not too close to the lead, so I wasn't too nervous,” he said. “But when we got here this morning and saw Tiger on the range, it was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is actually happening.’”

When they met, Tiger told Shipley he’d woken up at 3:45 a.m. to get ready for the day.

“He's really grinding and making a big commitment to be out here for everyone,” Shipley said. “It's awesome to see the patrons really appreciative of him and really enjoy having him out here.”

Through Sunday’s final round, the two talked as they walked the fairways, giving the 23-year-old some memories to store away for the years.

“Tiger made me feel really welcomed,” Shipley said. “I mean, he was cool, chatting it up. Just kind of a cool, like, casual round with Tiger, you know, other than you're here at the Masters. He was nice to me all day.”

They talked about Charlie Woods, Tiger’s 15-year-old son, who was on hand for the round. Since Shipley is from Pittsburgh, Tiger brought up Oakmont Country Club, the US Open venue, saying he liked the course years ago, back when it had trees.

"I'm not old enough to remember that Oakmont," Shipley told him.

When the final putts were holed, Shipley had shot a 1 over 73 to finish on 12-over and tied for 53rd. Woods posted 77 to wind up at 16-over, in 60th and last place in his 100th competitive round at Augusta National. The burly amateur shot four birdies in his day’s total and was four strokes better than Woods at the end.

But in getting to the weekend with a 73 and 72 in difficult conditions, Woods made the cut at Augusta National for the 24th consecutive time, breaking a tie with Gary Player and Fred Couples. He also proved his body could withstand walking Augusta National and playing four competitive rounds in a row.

Since last year’s Masters, Tiger entered just one official event and had to withdraw in the second round with an illness at the Genesis Invitational.

“It was a good week,” Woods said later. “It was a good week all around. I think that coming in here, not having played a full tournament in a very long time, it was a good fight on Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately, yesterday (Sunday) it didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to.”

Shipley, he said he had much to look back on from his week in Georgia. On Monday, he stayed the night in the Crow’s Nest, the traditional quarters for amateurs in the Clubhouse at Augusta National. A childhood friend, Carter Pitcairn, was on the bag for him. And there was his pairing on Sunday.

“Playing with Tiger Sunday at the Masters, the whole week,” he said, “I think I’d have to win one of these things to kind of top this week.” Add that to the fact that he beat Woods the one time they went head to head as well.