This was probably the most predictable SEC Golfer of the Week honor in years. Sam Bennett had a historic run at the Masters Tournament earning the respect of many seasoned golfers and was the talk of the golf world on social media for days.
The three-time All-American was the only amateur to make the cut after back-to-back opening rounds of 68. He would finish the tournament in 16th place with a 2-under 286 becoming the first amateur to finish in the top 20 since 2005.
Bennett’s Masters Performance as an amateur was one for the ages and joined the ranks of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as notable Low Amateurs at the event. He gave golf fans around the country something the Aggies already knew; Sam Bennett is a name to keep an eye on for many years to come.
Texas A&M star golfer Sam Bennett wrapped up his 2023 Masters debut with a 2-under par finish, earning low amateur honors in a historic feat not seen since 2005.
The 2023 Masters came to a close Sunday evening as John Rahm overtook Brooks Koepka down the stretch, highlighted by a -3 performance in the final round at Augusta to win the Green Jacket for the first time in his career. But the battle between Rahm and Koepka was far from the lone storyline to watch throughout the weekend.
Texas A&M‘s star golfer Sam Bennett, who entered the tournament as an amateur, had the world on notice after a hot start that included a top-10 finish in the first round that did not include a single bogey. Despite a setback on Saturday, the Aggie entered Sunday’s resumed play (due to weather) at No. 3 on the leaderboard.
Three bogeys in the final round resulted in Bennett finishing in a seven-way tie for 16th, but it won’t take away from one of the best performances put on display from an amateur in recent memory.
With a 2-under 268 in the four rounds combined, Bennett was rightfully awarded low amateur honors for the 2023 event. It also marked the first top-20 finish by an amateur at Augusta since 2005.
The 2023 Masters Low Amateur → @sammy_golf24243 at 2-under par ⛳️
— Texas A&M Men's Golf (@AggieMensGolf) April 9, 2023
Bennett had tears in his eyes when walking off the 18th hole at Augusta, as the 23-year-old not only got to see a childhood dream come to fruition but he also put a stamp on the event in emerging as a national story. Whether you’re a diehard golf fanatic or a casual viewer, how could you not root for Bennett over the weekend?
The saying goes that actions speak louder than words, but hearing Bennett talking about his experience at Augusta is sure to cause some waterworks:
.@sammy_golf24243 on CBS: "It was incredible. Just getting to play Augusta was a dream come true"
"#TheMasters and Augusta was everything I've ever dreamed of."
And in true fashion, Bennett quickly embodied the commitment and dedication of what it means to be an Aggie. You’d think that playing 36 holes in one day while seeing a childhood dream become a reality would warrant some well-needed rest. But not for the 2023 Low Amateur, who hinted that he’s leaning toward playing in tomorrow’s Aggie Invitational at Traditions Club in Bryan:
Texas A&M’s Sam Bennett in Butler Cabin getting honored as #themasters Low Am.
Said he’s leaning toward playing in tomorrow’s Aggie Invitational at Traditions Club in Bryan.
36 holes in one day… Both champ Jon Rahm and former Champ Scottie Scheffler chuckled and shook head. pic.twitter.com/5LFLOfvZvR
Congratulations to Bennett, who not only represented the Aggies well but who also put on a performance that will be remembered endlessly. It’s stories and triumphs like these that make sports so special. Gig’em, and BTHOthefield.
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For the second consecutive day, Texas A&M’s Sam Bennett shot 68 and is currently in third place at -8 in The Masters. Let’s Go!
Texas A&M’s Sam Bennett is off to a historic start as an Amaetur competing in The 2023 Masters Tournament, finishing -4 and shooting 68 on Thursday in a bogey-free round, and placing himself among the top 10 golfers competing ahead of Friday’s cut line while setting numerous amateur records along the way.
On Friday, Bennetts’ day started early due to inclement weather forecasts at 9:30 a.m., and the momentum train continued to chug along, again shooting 68 on the day and ending at -8. As his day ended close to 2:00 p.m CT, Bennett was in sole possession of second place behind leader Brooks Koepka at -12, but before Friday’s round was cut short due to thunderstorms in the area (including a tree falling near the course), Jon Rahm hit his way into second place at -9, while Bennett slid to third place behind by just one single stroke.
What’s even more incredible is Bennett has only one single bogey in 36 rounds and briefly broke yet another record set in 1958 as only the third amateur to hold a second place standing after two days in The Masters.
Texas A&M's Sam Bennett (A) cards a 4-under, 68 in his second round at #TheMasters and is in sole possession of second place at 8-under through two rounds.
First time since 1958 an amateur has been solo second.
As Friday’s play will continue into Saturday where the cut line will now be determined, the projected cut line now stands at -2, so in Bennett’s case, he is currently in safe waters, but we’ll all now wait for the impending weather ahead of the weekend. Here’s Sam Bennett discussing his performance after day two of The Masters. Gig ’em, Sam.
— Texas A&M Men's Golf (@AggieMensGolf) April 7, 2023
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Cameron on Twitter: @CameronOhnysty
Texas A&M golfer Sam Bennett is competing as an Amateur in the 2023 Masters, finishing day one ranked among the Top 10 with a score of -4, and is very close to making the final cut!
What an incredible showing from Texas A&M golfer Sam Bennett, recent winner of the Amateur Championship in 2022, made his debut in the 2023 Masters on Thursday, going toe to toe with some of the best players in the world like it was just another day in the office.
Bennett finished -4 on the day, finishing among the top 10 golfers on the day. While the final cut is yet to be established until Friday’s final results, Bennett is in very good standing, while the hope is that momentum is on his side throughout tomorrow’s predicted inclement weather.
Bennett didn’t just have a “respectable” day, starting out with a birdie on the first hole, and an eagle on his second. Later, he would birdie again on his sixth hole and tied a Masters Amateur record after shooting 32 on the front 9. Bennett finished at 68 after parring every hole; what a showing for the 23-year-old.
Friday’s round will determine who will make the 50-man cut, while Bennett’s group is set to tee off at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow, which can be streamed on the CBSSports.com, Paramount+, or the CBS Sports App. After his memorable day, Twitter shared in our excitement as well. Here are the best reactions to Sam Bennetts’ round 1 Master performance.
Texas A&M star golfer Sam Bennett is set to debut at the 2023 Masters, and here’s when you can watch the Aggie tee off in the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday.
Over the next few days, Texas A&M fans will have their sights on Augusta, Georgia with the 2023 Masters Tournament about to get underway. Star golfer Sam Bennett is set to tee off at the first major of the year after advancing to the finals of the U.S Amateur last August.
Bennett locked in his spot to compete at this year’s Masters following a win over Georgia Southern’s Ben Carr in the championship match.
Ahead of the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday, Bennett spoke to the media about seeing a childhood dream come to fruition. The senior is no stranger to these types of events or this course after he logged some practice rounds with A&M golf coach Brian Kortan. Kortan will once again be caddying for Benett this week.
Check out the breakdown below on when exactly Bennett will tee off in the first two rounds, and where you can tune in to cheer for the Aggie star.
2023 Masters tee times, Thursday pairing (Round 1)
Date: Thursday, April 6
Tee time: 12:36 p.m. CT
Pairings: Sam Bennett, Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa
TV Channel: CBS
Live Stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App, Paramount+
2023 Masters tee times, Friday pairing (Round 2)
Date: Friday, April 7
Tee time: 9:30 a.m. CT
Pairings: Sam Bennett, Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa
TV Channel: CBS
Live Stream: CBSSports.com, CBS Sports App, Paramount+
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes, and opinions. Follow Pete on Twitter: @PeteThreee
Aaron Wise is pulling out of The Masters this week to focus on his mental health. Wise finished 17th in his one trip to Augusta in 2019.
It’s the first week of April, which means that for a certain subset of the sporting world, it might as well be Christmas morning.
It’s Masters week, and in a few days, one of the greatest and most prestigious golf tournaments in the world will get underway at Augusta Country Club in Augusta, Georgia. In one of the most popular weeks of golf across the calendar year, all eyes will be tuned in to see who add a green jacket to their closet.
Unfortunately for golf fans in the Pacific Northwest, notable Oregon Ducks alumni Aaron Wise will not be participating. Wise qualified for the first major of the year but announced over the weekend that he would be withdrawing in order to focus on his mental health, noting that the game of golf had become “a struggle” for him recently.
🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING 🚨🚨🚨
Aaron has WITHDRAWN from the 2023 Masters Tournament.
Shocking news. Aaron says the “mental piece” of the game has been “a struggle” for him recently. Appears like he’ll be taking a significant amount of time away from the game. pic.twitter.com/ucVzlj0QhO
Wise currently ranks 45th in the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), and he has four top-25 finishes on tour this season. However, Wise has missed the cut in four of the last six events that he’s played while failing to crack the top-25 in the two events where he did make the cut.
“I need to take some time away to focus on my mental health so I can get back to competing at a level I’m proud of,” Wise wrote on Instagram.
Wise has not played the Masters since his only trip in 2019, when he qualified by winning the AT&T Byron Nelson the year before. Wise finished 17th in 2019, shooting 281 (-7).
Texas A&M star golfer Sam Bennett will tee off at The Masters next week, and he spoke about realizing a childhood dream come to fruition.
The best sports time of the year isn’t slowing down anytime soon with The Masters Tournament arriving next week. From Thursday, April 6 to Sunday, April 9, the world’s top golfers will descend onto Augusta National for a chance to don the green jacket as champion. This year, the field will boast a fellow Texas A&M Aggie.
Senior star golfer Sam Bennett will get the opportunity to tee off at The Masters next week after winning the US Amateur last summer. Bennett opted to return to Aggieland for his senior year, and now he’ll get to add a special moment to his storied career with the Maroon and White.
As is tradition, the US Amateur champion plays alongside the US Open and Masters Champion from the previous year meaning Bennett will play the first two rounds with Scottie Scheffler and Matthew Fitzpatrick. So long as he makes the cut, Bennett will be playing through Saturday and Sunday as well.
The senior met with the media on Thursday and spoke on a number of topics, from realizing a childhood dream come to fruition to preparing for the challenges of the course ahead.
A complete look at Tiger Woods’ leaderboard history at the Masters including tournament finishes, prize money, and odds to win in 2022.
Tiger Woods was missing from the 2021 Masters field due to injuries he suffered during a single-car crash in February 2021. His last appearance at Augusta National came during the 2020 version, which was played in November due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite carding a 10 on the par-3 12th during his final round, Woods finished with five birdies on his last six holes.
It’s hard to imagine the Masters without Woods, but we may have to wait another year to see him return to the grounds of his last major win.
Woods has slipped on the green jacket five times, just one shy of Jack Nicklaus’ record of six.
Current odds to win 2022 Masters: +5000
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To hear Jordan Spieth tell it, there is work still to be done to retooling the golf swing that won three majors between 2015 and 2017.
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jordan Spieth ran out of gas on the first nine Sunday at Augusta National Golf Club.
Having won the Valero Texas Open one week ago to snap his three-year winless streak, Spieth didn’t have enough in the tank to mount a comeback. He closed with a respectable final-round of 2-under 70 to share third place, but a sluggish start did him in.
“I’m tired,” Spieth conceded after the round. “I felt some mental fatigue for sure and made a couple bonehead mistakes over the weekend, just from, I think, maybe the long stretch.”
Spieth, the winner of the 2015 Masters, recorded his fifth top-3 finish at Augusta National and added another chapter in golf’s best comeback story this season. To hear Spieth tell it, there is work still to be done to retooling the golf swing that won three majors between 2015 and 2017.
“I’ve made a lot of good progress, but I feel like that road ahead is still significant for me,” he said.
How far off is open to debate as Spieth led the field in greens in regulation, hitting 56 of 72 greens. Despite a couple of chip ins during the tournament, Spieth only got up and down eight times, and mentioned a poor chip at the eighth hole Sunday that left him a 17-foot birdie putt as the only shot on the front nine that stuck in his craw.
“I wish that I had the control of my swing that I hope is coming or I think is coming soon because it would have made things a little easier this week,” Spieth said. “Structurally, it’s still not matching up where I want it to, and I feel like I’m doing a significant movement to try and get there. I still have a little bit of the old tendencies, but I get it in a better striking position, with the wrists in a better place, the club face and the shaft plane in a much better place, which is why I’m able to come out and contend.”
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Spieth began the final round trailing Hideki Matsuyama by six strokes, so it would have taken a special day like the 8-under 64 who shot in 2018 to give Patrick Reed a scare.
But Spieth caught a flier on the first hole and putting from the back fringe, he couldn’t get up and down. He recovered the stroke with a birdie at 2, but back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 5 and 6 dropped him to 3 under and eight behind Matsuyama.
While he bounced back with five birdies before a closing bogey, Spieth could ill afford to make three bogeys in his first six holes.
Jordan Spieth lines up his putt on the 18th green during the final round of the 2021 Masters Tournament. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports)
The highlight of Spieth’s round had to be his approach from 211 yards at the par-4 10th hole, which caught a slope and stopped 4 feet from the hole. In holing the short birdie putt, Spieth became the first player to birdie the 10th hole in all four rounds. Spieth said he will take some time off and that working at home is where he can make the strides necessary to become a consistent winner again.
“It’s still a little ways to go,” he said. “It could just kind of start to click and really feel that momentum.”
Coody agreed to part with 175 items, including the irons used to win the title, as well as his contestant badge.
Charles Coody spent four days this week in Augusta celebrating the 50th anniversary of his Masters triumph.
At Tuesday’s Champions Dinner he was honored for the feat, and on Thursday he attended the Honorary Starter ceremony. But since returning to Abilene, Texas, the 1971 champion can’t come to grips about a recent decision he made: to sell a portion of his memorabilia collection.
“I’m torn up about it,” Coody said Saturday. “I keep asking myself if I made the right decision, and to be honest, I don’t know. If somebody approached me now, I wouldn’t do it. I’d tell them, ‘No.’”
Among the items listed at TheGolfAuction.com are Coody’s 1971 Gold Medal given to him following his Masters victory. Coody agreed to part with 175 items, including the irons used to win the title, as well as his contestant badge.
The irons Charles Coody used to win the 1971 Masters are up for auction. (Augusta Chronicle file photo.)
“It’s all I’m thinking about,” Coody said. “The main reason I did what I did is, you know, you start thinking about mortality and I didn’t want to put my (three) kids in any position they didn’t want to be in. I did this to alleviate any problems.”
Coody made it clear that certain items were not considered for the auction, such as his replica trophy of the Masters Clubhouse and the cigarette box he was presented with in 1971.
The 83-year-old confirmed that proceeds will go to a trust for his children.
“There are so many questions in my mind, and I wonder every minute, ’Should I have done anything with any of it?’” Coody said. “You start thinking about going upstairs to meet the Big Man, and I just want what’s best for my children.”
Coody went silent on the telephone and then said, “I didn’t know what to do.”
