Bennett Named Ben Hogan Award Semifinalist – Texas A&M Athletics

FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas A&M men’s golfer Sam Bennett was named one of 10 semifinalists for the Ben Hogan Award presented by PNC Bank, the award committee, Friends of Golf and Golf Coaches Association of America announced Monday.
 
Bennett is fresh of winning the Silver Cup as the low amateur at the Masters Tournament, finishing in 16^th place with a 2-under 286. He became the first amateur to finish in the top 20 at the Masters since 2005. After firing rounds of 68 and 68 to position himself as the only amateur to make the cut, he closed out Sunday’s action with rounds of 76 and 74 at the famed Augusta National Golf Club.
 
His start was historic, with a two-round tally of 8-under 136, the second-lowest amateur score after two rounds in Masters Tournament history, trailing only Ken Venturi’s 135 in 1956. With his rounds of 68-68, Bennett joined Venturi and Charles Coe (1961) as the only amateurs to record multiple rounds in the 60s at a Masters Tournament.
 
Bennett, the 2022 SEC Golfer of the Year and three-time All-American, earned his fifth career collegiate tournament title in February at the John Burns Intercollegiate. He capped off the victory with a round of 61, the tournament record and two strokes better than the school record of 63 held by five golfers.
 
The fifth-year senior won the 122^nd U.S. Amateur last August with a 1UP victory over Georgia Southern’s Ben Carr in the grueling 36-hole championship round.
 
This marks Bennett’s third time as a semifinalist for the award. He was a finalist last season.
 
The Ben Hogan Award annually honors the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer based on all collegiate, amateur and professional events over the previous 12 months. Two of the top four players in the Official World Golf Ranking—No. 1 Jon Rahm (2015, 2016) and No. 4 Patrick Cantlay (2012)—are past recipients of the honor.
 
On Thursday, May 4, the 10 semifinalists will be pared down to three finalists. The finalists will attend a black-tie dinner Monday, May 22, at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, where the winner will be crowned. The winner will receive an exemption into the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge, played annually at Colonial.
 

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