FEATURE: Neal Shipley, Jake Sollon Represent Pittsburgh in U.S. Open

While this year’s U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is 457 miles away from last year’s event contested at Oakmont Country Club, Pittsburgh still had a pair of representatives compete in Neal Shipley and Jake Sollon.

Shipley, shared medalist honors with Zac Blair at the Springhill Country Club site in Ohio, while Sollon prevailed over Bryan Lee in a playoff for the last spot in the Woodmont Country Club final qualifier.

“I was pretty nervous,” Sollon recalled. “(It was) hole 6, 166 yards. I hit a 9-iron to probably eight inches and tapped it in.”

This week serves as Shipley’s second U.S. Open, with his first coming in 2024. Shipley was a finalist in the 2023 U.S. Amateur and matched his low-amateur effort at the 2024 Masters with the same honor at Pinehurst No. 2.

Shipley started his career at PGA Tour Americas and was a two-time winner last season on the Korn Ferry Tour, earning his promotion to the PGA Tour.

The Pittsburgher famously attended last year’s U.S. Open as a fan, walking the grounds throughout the week, primarily to support his friend and Ohio State teammate Maxwell Moldovan, though he also posed for selfies for fans who asked.

Shipley said even though he didn’t play at Oakmont, the experience was constructive.

“I think watching golf, you get a better sense of the conditions and what’s going on, and when you’re not fully invested in the shot like they are, it allows you to kind of kind of see it from 1,000-foot view,” reflected Shipley. “I think that’s helped me kind of set my expectations a little bit more out here when you roll up to a shot and are ‘Hey, if I hit the green right here, that’s going to be really good.’ I think it’s nice to get that perspective just so you’re not living and dying by every shot.”

He currently ranks 182nd in the FedExCup standings having made four cuts in the 14 events he has teed it up. His best finish thus far is a tie for 38th at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, recording two rounds in the 60s.

Shipley did the same in last week’s RBC Canadian Open opening with a 68 and firing a season-low 66 during third-round play.

He entered play this week hopeful but understanding not just that Shinnecock Hills is a tough test, but also it exposed a lot of his weaknesses ,with short-game play being key.

Shipley made the cut on the number, standing at 4 over after 36 holes.

“It’s nice to hit a lot of short-game shots around here and get a couple of balls up-and-down and gain some confidence on some of the things I’ve been working on,” he said. “I was able to really ball strike it and got a lot of out of my game, considering how poorly I’m putting it right now. I just haven’t been hitting the golf course well to start the first half of the year, and I feel like that’s coming around. I hit it really nice the last two days out here, and I think that’s why I made the cut.”

Neal Shipley competes in this year’s U.S. Open. Photo credit: USGA/Jeff Haynes

Shipley’s time in Pittsburgh saw him attend Central Catholic, where his coach was current city mayor Corey O’Connor, following in his father Bob’s footsteps.

When O’Connor was inaugurated in early January, his friend Shipley was there.

“He taught me a lot of things, just from simply course management,” beamed Shipley. “He was always trying to get us high school kids to aim at the middle of the green and just 2-putt from long range. We didn’t always listen too well, but I think that now I’m a little bit more mature and realize that it was pretty good advice. We had a great time.

“I’ll be honest, I was a lot more nervous speaking at his inauguration than I was hitting my first tee shot here this week. I mean, speaking in front of that many people, props to him, he does it all the time. Not my thing. It was really, really cool to be involved in that. He’s just had a profound impact on my life and just really happy for him and his family and how successful he’s been and everything going on right now in Pittsburgh right now that’s because of him. I feel like the city is going in such a great direction.”

Sollon, a Peters Township product, placed fourth earlier this year in PGA Tour Americas Kia Open de Ecuador and also has played both the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour Canada.

He has made cuts in all three starts on the PGA Tour Americas this season and also competed in six PGA Tour Canada events.

Though Sollon fell out of contention with a 12-over par 82, finishing his round Friday morning, he was able to hit a hybrid to eight feet on the par-3 second hole, converting one of his two birdies in the tournament. The other came on the par-4 13th.

Sollon had a quick turnaround for his second round and parred each of his first 10 holes and improved by 11 shots overall, firing a 71.

“I mean, it was fun, it was a good time but didn’t play nearly as well as we wanted to play,” summarized Sollon. “Golf’s hard. Played a decent second 18, but the first 18 was pretty terrible, and we’ll learn from it.”

Jake Sollon plays a shot from a bunker on the second hole during a practice round ahead of the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y. on Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (Kathryn Riley/USGA)

To compete in a U.S. Open patience is extremely key. Shipley epitomized that at Pinehurst, understanding runs will come, but when in a bad position just take the bogey.

It is this mentality which can be a bit different as opposed to playing a PGA Tour event, where often the field goes extremely low.

“I think when I’m able to play patient golf, I play really good golf,” Shipley concluded. “You’ve got to be a little bit more, you know, foot on the gas pedal at a normal PGA TOUR start. This week I think I’m 4-over, and I’m 6 shots out of second. It’s a bunched leaderboard just because it’s so tough. If you shoot poor at any other PGA TOUR event, you’re going home, so it’s a lot different.”