PARAMUS, N.J. — A troublesome street led to the sweetest end for Sam Bennett within the U.S. Novice.
Even with so many prime stars who both did not qualify or obtained knocked out within the opening spherical, Bennett needed to face the remainder of the very best, match after match, to get to the championship match Sunday at Ridgewood Nation Membership.
The Texas A&M senior completed the job to win the largest match of his life.
Bennett, the No. 3 participant on the planet novice rating, took a 3-up lead at lunch, expanded the result in 5 holes after which needed to maintain off Georgia Southern senior Ben Carr, successful 2 up.
“I obtained off to a sizzling begin, then after lunch, he began dropping in putts and chips from all over the place,” Bennett mentioned. “It made me nervous. I obtained fairly tight.”
However then, Bennett is used to powerful instances.
His golf roots begin on a hardscrabble 9-hole course in tiny Madisonville, Texas, about 100 miles north of Houston, the place his late father confirmed him methods to play. His father noticed sufficient ardour that he purchased a membership at A&M’s house course, the place they went twice a month till Bennett was sufficiently old to drive.
There was loads of perception at Ridgewood. Bennett knew he confronted powerful opponents, and he knew he was simply pretty much as good. And he performed prefer it.
There have been a couple of dodgy moments on the homestretch, and one shot Carr little question would like to have again.
Each missed quick putts on the twelfth gap, and Bennett maintained a 3-up lead going to the lengthy par-5 thirteenth. Even with a giant lead, Bennett selected to smash fairway metallic, and as a substitute pulled it to this point left of the inexperienced that it went out of bounds in some hedges.
Carr additionally went with fairway metallic and adopted him out of bounds, they usually wound up halving the outlet with bogeys.
However then proper when it seemed as if Bennett had it locked up, he three-putted the subsequent gap from 25 ft, lacking a 3-footer.
Carr missed birdie probabilities on the subsequent two holes. On the par-5 seventeenth, Carr had a 15-footer to remain within the match. He made it to win the outlet, and Bennett went to the 18th with a 1-up lead.
Carr missed the golf green to the fitting and went into the collar of tough across the inexperienced. Bennett smoked his drive into the golf green, hit to 12 ft, and when Carr did not gap his chip, Bennett had two putts to win.
He lagged it to inches and it was over.
“Fortunately, I used to be in a position to end it off with an excellent iron shot,” Bennett mentioned.
Bennett is exempt into the Masters, U.S. Open and Open Championship subsequent yr.
“It means all the pieces,” Bennett mentioned concerning the victory. “It is a dream come true. … It means loads to carry that trophy.”
The comfort for Carr is the standard invitation to the Masters, together with a spot within the U.S. Open subsequent yr.
“It is what you dream of as a child,” Carr mentioned. “It did not work out the way in which I needed, however I could not have misplaced to a greater competitor. I performed very effectively this week.”
Bennett’s father, Mark, died final summer season. The reminiscence is rarely too distant. When his father was within the early phases of Alzheimer’s, one of many final messages he had for his son whereas they nonetheless might talk was, “Do not wait to do one thing.” Bennett had his father write it out, and he had the message transferred to the within of his arm as a tattoo. He sees it each time he swings.
On this case, he waited to complete at Texas A&M, to offer the U.S. Novice one final shot. And it paid off in a giant manner.
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