Neal Shipley’s favorite math theorem? Ito’s Lemma.
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As you’ve probably heard, the pace of professional golf is often glacial.
This is a challenge for those watching at home, but it is a problem for those participating in the slow crawl. Golf is one famous mind gameand it can become more frustrating when you are forced to spend 10 minutes or more on each hole in the company of your thoughts. As such, golfers have gone to great lengths to find alternative solutions for the in-between moments that matter, whether talk about nothing between player and caddy or breathing tricks aimed at slowing down the central nervous system.
But as it turns out, one golfer in the professional ranks has come up with an unusual solution to the problem of pacing golf: advanced math.
In an interview posted on the official Korn Ferry Tour social media channels, beloved mullet owner and former Masters low am Neal Shipley talked about his unusual strategy for zen on the course: SAT Math.
“My caddy last year would print out SAT math problems and we’d do them on the golf course,” Shipley said. “Then we’d go back to the hotel afterwards and check my work, make sure we got it right.”
Shipley says he’s always had a problem with math — he has a degree in quantitative finance to go along with minors in math and economics. However, there is a certain irony to doing math during one’s professional career THESE day: for a long time, the 24-year-old thought math would be the center of his professional life, not a distraction from it.
“Back then, initially, math was kind of the game plan,” Shipley said. “(I thought) I was going to go into finance and be a statistics guy. I always loved golf and wanted to play professional golf, but, you know, I always had that in my back pocket where I could finance. (It wasn’t until) once I finished with James Madison and saw myself playing really good golf, I put it on the back burner.”
How skilled is Shipley? Well, we’ll let him answer.
“Ito’s Lemma, this has always been my favorite equation. It’s kind of an equation, more of a test, I guess.”
Of course, Shipley isn’t the first aspiring professional golfer to acquire a knack for math. The economy of sub-PGA Tour pro golf requires skilled players extending small amounts. The business of professional golf depends on those who commit to small percentage improvements. And, of course, the task of scoring low on the golf course involves no shortage of math.
“I think about numbers and probabilities when we’re planning golf courses and how we prepare to attack the holes,” Shipley said. “Because at the end of the day, when we’re hitting shots here, it ends up being just a distribution of shots, and you have to figure out how to put your target in the most optimal spot for that distribution.”
In other words, for Neal Shipley, golf is a numbers game. AND slow golf?
Well, this is a game of several others.
