Amateur Sam Bennett remains amazed at the Masters experience

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Sam Bennett, the college student from Texas A&M, didn’t win the Masters but he won a lot of admiration as the only amateur to make the cut.

He finished the tournament tied in 17th place.

It was a lot to take in.

“I’m going to need some time when I get back to decompress and really look back and enjoy it,” he said.

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“I didn’t play how I wanted to this weekend, but this experience playing the weekend at Augusta is definitely going to help me be the golfer I want to be. And to be able to play the Sunday pins was just incredible.”

He said his body wasn’t always moving the way he wanted it to.

“I think I need to get in a little better shape, get in the gym. It was good. It showed, just like at the U.S. Am, I competed with the best and now out here on this stage,” he said. “I’ve seen how the top dogs kind of play and what they’re made of, so I think I can hang in with them.”

He looked a little emotional coming off the green.

“It was just, from growing up as a kid watching this tournament to losing my dad to the struggles I’ve faced and still face to be able to walk up that green on 18 on a Sunday, Easter Sunday, and just be appreciative of everything, I thought – I mean, if you had told me I was going to be here when I was a kid, I would have thought you were crazy,” he said.

Being at the Masters is far better in person than seeing it on TV, he said.

“Just the people, the property, the hills, the slopes, the scoreboards, I mean, the food,” he said. “It was everything I could imagine. I really hope to be back.”

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