Everything Texas A&M’s Sam Bennett had to say about playing in the Masters Tournament

“Yeah, it’s going to be cool. I got there, me and coach just got back. We played last Thursday, Friday, and, you know, it was incredible. It was a dream come true to finally, you know, be able to walk Augusta National and just see the layout and, you know, I was able to. So much history out there and looking at all the shots the pros have hit in the past, and now I’m just looking forward to getting out there next week, preparing with my coach, getting a good feel for it, and come Thursday, I think we’ll be ready to try to win a golf tournament.”

“Yeah, I feel like my experiences help. Playing in the US Amateur, that semi final match which got me in the Masters, that was a lot of pressure. Then playing the weekend at the US. Open in Boston, making that cut and having all the fans out there, I feel pretty comfortable with that. I won’t let that get to me, and I feel like I’m experienced, and I’ve gotten to play in a lot of college tournaments leading up, so that’s there, and I’m just ready to get out there and compete.”

“I mean, after I won the semifinal match at the US Amateur, I knew I was heading there, so I’ve known since August I was going to be teeing it up.”

“Yeah, for sure, but I’m trying to beat them. But, yeah, obviously, Tiger, I’ve never seen him in person, so I’m looking forward to seeing him, and I hope he plays. Rory, there’s a bunch that I looked up to, and to finally be able to compete with the best and see what I got, I think I’m ready for it.”

“Yeah, for sure. We checked out Bubba’s shot, the hook shot he hit, and then Tiger’s chip on 16. I hit that a few times. I was having a heyday out there just hitting different shots and messing with the slopes and stuff.”

“Yeah, it’s tough. They lengthened 11. It’s about 530 now. The wind was in, so I was hitting four iron or hybrid in there, but the fairways weren’t bouncing either. And then 12, just as you imagine, and then they got a new tee on 13, which plays a little longer, but Amen Corner is hard. But I’d say the first seven holes are the tough stretch. If you can get through there in even or one over, then you can kind of attack the second part of the golf course.”

“Yeah, I think experience definitely plays a part out there, just with the greens. I mean, they’re sloppy, and I think experience plays a big factor. But when I stepped out there, it was kind of weird. It was like I’ve been there before, just from watching on TV and the highlights and where balls go, and we had a caddy, and I kind of knew where all the four pin locations were going to be just from watching. But, yeah I’ll get a lot of work done, and I think I really need to focus on if I can eliminate three putts and have few of those and don’t make any doubles, I think I’ll be just fine.”

“Tiger winning in 19 was by far the coolest moment, but no, it was just as good as I thought, though, just seeing the whole course layout.”

“Yeah, it’s long and it plays long. I mean, when I played it Thursday and Friday, the fairways weren’t bouncing, but a lot of mid irons. I mean, hole five, I had 220 in both days. Hole one had some length to it, but hole 11 is long. It’s definitely long, and it plays it.”

“Yeah, I love Aggieland. I love repping my school. I wish I could rep it at Augusta, but I’m trying to make some money, so I’ll be wearing some other stuff. But just what this university and school has given me the opportunity to do, with coaches’ help and all the boosters and donors, all the support I’ve had. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to tee it up next week. It’s cool what Jenny’s doing. I think she’s inside the cut right now, so I think she’s going to be able to play the final round at Augusta, too. So it’s cool. And I love being an Aggie.”

“Yeah, for sure. I’m not playing my best coming into the week, but I’m going to put some work in. But like you said you see shots out there and a lot of shots are appealing to the eye, so I’m going to work on being able to work the ball both ways and use some imagination, for sure. Like you said, I’m a feel player, so I think I can use that to my advantage next week.”

“I don’t know. Young. I watch every round, every tournament. I mean, I watch every golf tournament. Not just the Masters, I love watching golf. But yeah, I’ve known every hole and every pin out there and every slope for quite a while.”

“Yeah, I was just soaking it all in because I played Thursday, and then Friday I asked my caddy, I was like, are the concession stands not up yet? He was like, no, they’re up you just didn’t see them. Then he started pointing them out and they were just right there. So I was strictly just soaking it in, just looking around.”

“It’s going to be awesome. It worked down in August. It’s worked my whole career here. He knows his golf very well. I’m going to put a lot of trust in him, just like I did at the US Amateur. I’ll probably just say Kortan tell me what to do. It’s a 165 shot, cut eight iron this flight. Tell me where to hit the putt. I’ll do this. So I’m going to put a lot of trust in him this week because I know how good he is and how helpful he is for me, and I think we’re just going to try to do a good job of, I tee it in the fairway, which is going to be no issue out there. The fairways are pretty big, and I hit the driver straight. So I think if we can do a good job of attacking the par fives, whether that’s laying up and getting a good wedge number or banging it up there. But I think if we stay under the hole and keep Rae’s Creek at our back, because everything goes toward Rae’s Creek, so you don’t want to be putting nor chipping toward Rae’s Creek. So if we can stay under the hole, I think we’ll be fine.”

“I got a pretty good pairing the first two rounds with Scottie Scheffler, reigning Masters and world number one and Matt Fitzpatrick, but, yeah, dream pairing. Probably Tiger and Rory, I guess. Yeah.”