GOLF
What happened to Sam Bennett? The top amateur at the 2023 Masters is back at the US Open
The American golfer and the Texas A&M golf team varsity member, finished 16th overall and became the first amateur in the top 20 at the Masters since 2005.
Bennett is a young golfer from Madisonville, Texas. He began playing golf on a public nine-hole course in his hometown and attended Madisonville High School, where he became a state champion in 2017.
In 2018, Bennett enrolled at Texas A&M, where he achieved All-American honors as a junior and represented the American team at the 2021 Arnold Palmer Cup. As a senior in 2022, he earned the SEC Player of the Year award and was a finalist for the Fred Haskins Award, given to the most outstanding collegiate golfer in the country. Bennett also set a school record for the lowest scoring average. He was named to the 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup team and advanced to the final of the U.S. Amateur in August 2022 at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. He defeated Ben Carr, 1 up, to become the first U.S. Amateur champion in Texas A&M history. This win exempted Bennett from the 2023 Masters Tournament and 2023 Open Championship.
Bennett also qualified for the 2022 U.S. Open at The Country Club, where he cut, finishing in a tie for 49th place. He played his first PGA Tour event, the Valero Texas Open, in 2021 but unfortunately missed the cut.
At the 2023 Masters, Bennett made history as the first amateur in 30 years to play a bogey-free round of 68 (-4) and score two rounds in the 60s. He became one of the top three amateurs on the leaderboard after 36 holes, with an amateur’s lowest 36-hole score of 136 (-8) since 1956. Although he fell to seventh place on the third day, Bennett still became the first amateur since 1964 to be in the top 10 in the final round. He tied for 16th place after a two-over 74 in the final round, which was still a remarkable achievement as it was the best Masters finish by an amateur since 2005.
Sam Bennett as a pro golfer
Bennett couldn’t receive his $261,000 prize money from the Masters tournament due to his amateur status. Unfortunately, he didn’t qualify to participate in Augusta this year, as he finished just a bit outside the top 12 needed to earn an invitation back.
Bennett turned professional in May 2023 after competing in the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship. He played in several 10 PGA Tour events that year, earning $303,155 in prize money, partly thanks to sponsor exemptions. Bennett secured full membership on the Korn Ferry Tour by finishing in the top five of the PGA Tour University rankings. He has earned $68,055 in six Korn Ferry events and is ranked 28th in the standings, just making the top 30 cutoff to qualify for the PGA Tour next year.
In 2023 he made five cuts in 10 events including a T16 at the Masters Tournament, T20 at the RBC Canadian Open and T43 at the US Open. So far in 2024 he has played in one PGA Tour event where he finished T72 at the Texas Children’s Houston Open in March.