Texas A&M amateur Sam Bennett making noise at 2023 Masters
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 07: Amateur Sam Bennett of the United States reacts on the 18th green during the second round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 07, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Ge
AUGUSTA, Ga. - Sam Bennett, a fifth-year senior at Texas A&M, is the early surprise story of this year's Masters.
Bennett, the U.S. amateur champion, finished his second round at 7 under for the tournament, good for second place only trailing Brooks Koepka.
On the first day of The Masters, the 23-year-old shot a bogey-free 4 under par. It was the lowest round by an amateur in a major since Viktor Hovland shot a 67 at the 2019 U.S. Open.
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Bennett grew up in Madisonville, Texas, which is not too far from College Station. The city's population was 4,420 at the 2020 Census.
He got the love of the game from his late father, whose words are forever on the golfer's wrist.
Bennett's father, Mark, died of early-onset Alzheimer's in 2021.
While talking to the PGA Tour, Bennett said in the final months of his father's life he spent minutes writing a short a message to his son: "Don't wait to do something."
The next month, Bennett was at a tournament in Dallas and decided to take the piece of paper to a tattoo parlor and get the words tattooed on his wrist in his dad's handwriting.
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Bennett says he looks at his father's words before every shot.
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 07: A detail of amateur Sam Bennett of the United States wrist tattoo during the second round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 07, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Gett
An amateur has never won The Masters. The best finish ever for an amateur was a solo second place by then 24-year-old Ken Venturi in 1956.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.