Sam Bennett created plenty of headlines at The Masters for his T16 which saw him claim the Silver Cup as low amateur. Now, the US Amateur champion has turned professional.
The Texas A&M player has finished in the top five of the PGA Tour University Ranking, which has handed him fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour membership.
Bennett finished fifth in the ranking, and that is also enough to hand him an exemption to Final Stage of 2023 PGA Tour Q-School. The top five finishers in that, including ties, will earn PGA Tour cards as well as the right to accept unlimited PGA Tour sponsor exemptions for the rest of 2023 and 2024.
While all that is to come, Bennett will first tee it up in this week’s designated event on the PGA Tour, The Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village courtesy of his status as US Amateur Champion. Ahead of the tournament, Bennett explained he's excited to start the latest chapter in his career.
He said: "Yeah, I'm excited. College was great, it was fun. But now I'm ready to take my game to the next level and I got a good opportunity here at The Memorial here this week to get started. I got this and then RBC next week and then U.S. Open. So nice little three-week stretch to start my professional career off."
As well as his performance at Augusta National in April, and his win in the 2022 US Amateur at The Ridgewood Country Club, Bennett has a string of other achievements to his name, including being named the 2022 Southeastern Conference Golfer of the Year, earning All-America First Team selections in 2021 and 2022 and representing the US in the Arnold Palmer Cup in those two years.
Bennett’s performance in The Masters was what really thrust him into the spotlight, though. The 23-year-old got off to a dream start at the tournament with a 68 to leave him just three shots off the lead. He repeated the score in the second round to reach third and was still in the top 10 going into the final round, before his challenge finally faded to leave him 10 shots adrift of eventual winner Jon Rahm.
That was enough to convince many that Bennett had what it takes to become a success in the professional game. Now, he has a chance to prove that as his life-changing 2023 continues.
As well as Bennett’s unforgettable week, World No.1 amateur Ludvig Aberg has secured a PGA Tour card after he claimed the top spot on the PGA University Ranking, making him the first player to earn a PGA Tour place straight out of college. He will keep his Tour card for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
