Sam Bennett hasn’t been shy about his intentions.
The 22-year-old fifth-year senior at Texas A&M has been boisterous and bombastic all week at the 2022 U.S. Amateur at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. The third-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Bennett, from Madisonville, Texas, has gone through a tumultuous gauntlet to get into Sunday’s championship match, yet he never lacked confidence at any point in any match.
He often called himself the best player in the field throughout the week. He proved it Sunday.
Bennett claimed the 122nd U.S. Amateur championship with a 1-up victory against Ben Carr of Georgia. Bennett trailed only two holes during match play all week, beatings Nos. 8, 9, 10, 13 and 27 in the WAGR before Sunday’s championship match. Carr, who will be a fifth-year senior at Georgia Southern this coming school year, was ranked higher than Bennett’s other five opponents combined (No. 70).
“I have the utmost respect for Ben Carr,” Bennett said. “He wouldn’t go away. After lunch, he started dropping in putts and chips from everywhere. It made me pretty nervous. Luckily, I was able to finish it off with a good iron shot on the last.”
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By virtue of making the championship match, both players earned invitations to the 2023 U.S. Open at The Los Angeles Country Club and a likely invitation to the 2023 Masters.
Bennett is the first golfer from Texas since Kelly Kraft in 2011 to win the Havemeyer Trophy. He was 3 up after 18 holes, taking the lead for good on the ninth hole, and he never trailed against Carr.
To begin the afternoon session, Bennett won two of the first three holes before Carr responded, winning consecutive holes to make the deficit 3 down with 12 to play. Carr won the 28th hole, No. 10, to get to 2 down, but Bennett responded and won with a par on the 30th, No. 12, to go back 3 up.
On the next hole, the par-5 13th, both players hit their second shots out of bounds and bogeyed the hole. On the next hole, Bennett missed a par putt that lipped out, making his lead 2 up with 4 to play.
On the 34th hole, the par-4 16th, Bennett’s shot from the fairway ended up short in the rough. Carr, meanwhile, was in the rough and landed his wedge pin high, but his ball trickled to the back of the green. Both players made par, and moved to the par-5 17th. Carr got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie, and Bennett was unable to make a shorter birdie putt of his own, so they marched to the 18th.
Carr’s tee shot came to rest in the right rough while Bennett found the fairway. Then, Bennett stuck a tight approach to 15 feet while Carr’s ball ran long over the green. His chip shot came out soft, and Bennett nearly made his birdie putt, which clinched the match.
“I’m OK,” Carr said. “Congrats to Sam. He’s an awesome player and a great guy. It’s what you dream of as a kid, but it didn’t work out the way I wanted. I couldn’t have lost to a better competitor.”
