Aggie Golfer Bennett Claims Old Waverly Collegiate Crown

(Source: Mississippi State Athletics)

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

 

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