AUGUSTA, Ga.—Amateurs at the Masters are supposed to gush about the famous country club that hosts the event, giddily sleep in a room called the Crow’s Nest and revere Bobby Jones. Then they usually get out of the way to let the pros battle it out.
He took a jab at Augusta National. He didn’t sleep in the Crow’s Nest, a small room above the clubhouse. And he admits he doesn’t know too much about the club’s legendary founder. He’s also near the top of the leaderboard halfway through his first Masters.
Bennett is 8-under par through two rounds, which is the best 36-hole performance for an amateur in over half a century. He’s in third place, but the brash 23-year-old who attends Texas A&M isn’t as astounded with his play as everyone else is. That’s because he thinks he can spend his Sunday evening getting fitted for a green jacket.
“I’ve got a golf tournament that I can go out and win,” Bennett said. And why does he think that’s possible? “Because I know that my good golf is good enough.”
It was just a year ago when Bennett appeared unprepared for this precise type of stage. When he got into his first PGA Tour events, he played terribly and his hands were shaking from the nerves.
That was one of the reasons why, last April, he decided to come back to Texas A&M for a fifth season even after establishing himself as one of the best college golfers in the country. He also still wanted to get his degree and work on his game at the collegiate level before the grind of trying to make it professionally.
“He wasn’t entirely ready to leave college behind,” says Brian Kortan, the Texas A&M coach who is caddying for him at the Masters.
Sam Bennett is at 8-under after two rounds at the Masters.
Photo:
Mark Baker/Associated Press
But the next few months after Bennett made that decision, the first signs that Bennett could be knocking on the door of a moment like this appeared. He qualified his way into the last U.S. Open, where he made the cut at…
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