Colonial Country Club’s special tradition about its annual PGA Tour stop is now the Charles Schwab Challenge.
This is called the Champions’ Choice: Past Championship Champions, selecting two players each year to participate in a special invitation in the field. This week, the champions are Neal Shipley and Blades Brown.
Brown is a 17-year-old who turned professional throughout the winter, while good Shipley captured the imagination of golf fans in 2024, becoming a low-level amateur at the Masters and the U.S. Open, and then he turned professional.
“I know to a large extent that I can compete at those biggest stages, so when I came here, I knew I could beat most of the people here,” Shipley told reporters on Tuesday. “I think this is something that a lot of young professionals don’t get out of college, so thanks a lot for both experiences.”
In the Netflix documentary “In Full Flood,” Shipley is also grateful for his career dream and thanks Fort Worth, Texas for the opportunity.
“I’m honored that some of my peers chose to give me a waiver and were so excited to have a great week,” he said. “The golf course is in a great shape and the Colonial membership has just done a great job and welcoming us to their course.”
Shipley worked hard to earn cards through Korn Ferry Tour, only starting on the second PGA Tour of the season. He scored a layoff at the Valspar Championship in March and ranked 47th.
Since then, Shipley won the playoffs at the Lecom Suncoast Classic on the Korn Ferry Tour in April, winning his first professional title.
“A lot of our focus this year is on the Kane Ferry Tour, making it into one of the top 20 attractions (automatically taking the PGA Tour), he said. “…There is a great opportunity for me to be able to play the tour. I want to be here. This is where I want to play.”
Shipley attended the Korn Ferry Tour event there in the Dallas-Fort Worth area earlier this month and it’s safe to say he’s happy to be back.
“I love being in Texas. If I didn’t live in Florida, I might be here,” Shipley said. “Yes, super excited. The grilled food here is elite, so I can’t beat it.”
