Texas A&M’s Bennett Advances to Fourth Round of Stroke Play at NCAA Championships

(Source: NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

By: Evan Roberts, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Texas A&M men’s golfer Sam Bennett advanced to the fourth round of stroke play as the senior tied for 49th after 54 holes at 9-over Sunday at Grayhawk Golf Club.

The Madisonville, Texas native carded a 2-over 72 on Sunday, registering a pair of birdies on Nos. 6 and 11. Bennett tees off at 2:01 p.m. CT on hole 10 on Monday.

As a team, the 12th-ranked missed the 15-team cutline by two strokes, finishing 16th at 37-over. The Maroon & White tallied a 12-over 292 on Sunday.

“Our team came here to do something together,” head coach Brian Kortan said. “It’s pretty tough. It’s not the week we were looking for. Through six holes today, we were already behind the 8-ball early. Like our guys do, they hung in there and battled and made some birdies and got back inside the top-15 until the very end. Coming down to the last hole, we needed a few pars and it’s a pretty challenging hole. Par isn’t an easy deal there. They battled the whole day, and that’s what they do, and they do it when they’re playing great and when they aren’t playing as well. This week we just didn’t have a very good week.”

In his final tournament as an Aggie, Walker Lee finished tied for 68th at 12-over, and shot a 2-over 72 in the third round. The Houston native finished his career with five individual wins, which ranks tied for second all-time in program history.

“I hate to see Walker go. It was an incredible five years with him,” Kortan said of the graduate. “It’s not the way we wanted it to end for him, but what a career he had. He has been a huge part of Aggie golf. I’ve been here nine years and he’s been a part of that for five years, so it’s been an incredible career for him. He has been a part of a bunch of wins and not just his individual wins.”

Phichaksn Maichon and Daniel Rodrigues tied for 76th at 13-over, and William Paysse tied for 109th at 18-over.

“This team competed their tails off all year,” Kortan added. “They had pride and poise. It’s led us to a pretty good season. We just finished 16th at the national championships. That’s not anything to shake your head at and think you didn’t have a good year. We had a good year, we just wanted to have a great year. There’s a lot to look forward to with this group. We bring back everyone except Walker. These guys are going to learn from this week and understand what they can do to be better so that we don’t feel like this after three rounds of the national championships. I’m fortunate that I have a great group of guys and great support at Texas A&M.”

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