By: Brad Marquardt, Assistant AD / Athletics Communications
WEST POINT, Miss. – Texas A&M junior Sam Bennett tallied his second individual title of 2021 with a victory at Mississippi State’s Old Waverly Collegiate Championship on Sunday at the Old Waverly Golf Club.
Bennett, from Madisonville, Texas, fired a 2-under par 70 in the weather-delayed final round to get to 11-under for the tournament, which was two strokes better than Eli Scott of Georgia. Next up for Bennett is a spot in next week’s Valero Texas Open at the TPC San Antonio. Bennett received a PGA Tour exemption by winning the Cabo Collegiate at the TPC San Antonio earlier this month.
“I’m so pumped getting a win before heading to the Valero Texas Open,” Bennett said. “It was a great way to prepare by playing against such a strong field at Old Waverly. My confidence level is through the roof and I cannot wait to get to San Antonio and tee it up against the best in the world. This win just makes the experience a little sweeter.”
Added head coach Brian Kortan, “Sam is extremely focused and he’s playing really well right now. I’m excited to see him get a chance to tee it up against the PGA Tour guys. I hope he’s able to slow down and enjoy it. He’s a competitive son of a gun.”
With Bennett leading the way, the Aggies placed in a tie for second in the Old Waverly team standings behind No. 13 Georgia, who were 4-under on Sunday and 20-under for the tournament. Matching the Aggies at 10-under was host Mississippi State. Rounding out the team standings were Vanderbilt (-3), Tennessee (-3), Arkansas (-2), LSU (-2), East Tennessee State (+2), Ole Miss (+4), Texas Tech (+6), Alabama (+8), Little Rock (+11), Kansas State (+15) and Southern Mississippi (+16).
“We needed to be a little tougher, more resilient today,” Kortan said. “We started pretty well but we had some hiccups that derailed us a little bit. But it was a positive experience. We put up good scores on a great golf course and we beat a bunch of good teams.”
Other Aggie finishers were freshman Daniel Rodrigues in a tie for 16th at 1-under (73-70-72), senior Walker Lee in a tie for 27th at 1-over (71-69-74), senior Dan Erickson in a tie for 40th at 3-over (72-69-78), sophomore William Paysse in a tie for 46th at 4-over (75-70-75) and senior Brandon Smith in a tie for 68th at 6-over (75-74-76).
Aggies on the Leaderboard (Final):
Place | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
T2 | Texas A&M | 285 | 274 | 295 | 854 |
1 | Sam Bennett | 69 | 66 | 70 | 205 |
T16 | Daniel Rodrigues | 73 | 70 | 72 | 215 |
T27 | Walker Lee | 71 | 69 | 77 | 217 |
T40 | Dan Erickson | 72 | 69 | 78 | 219 |
T68 | Brandon Smith | 75 | 74 | 76 | 225 |