‘The Hole’s Still the Same Size’: Sam Bennett Has Major Confidence Ahead of His First Major As a Pro
LOS ANGELES — Sam Bennett—the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and breakout star of the recent Masters—is soaking it all in at his first start in a major as a pro. Thanks to that magical week, he got a taste of major-championship pressure, media attention and even contending to win.
But for Bennett, the host site of this week’s championship, Los Angeles Country Club, feels even more unfamiliar than his new status.
“LACC is incredible. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Bennett says Wednesday during his practice round. “The bunkering, the fescue around it. You don’t really see the bermuda-bentgrass combo in this area. It’s tough around the greens with all the runoffs and it’s pretty grainy in some spots, and the greens are already a lot firmer today than they have been. It’s going to be a tough test.”
The Texan is in Los Angeles for the first time and making his third pro start.
Michael Reaves/Getty Images
It’s the Madisonville, Texas, native’s first time in Los Angeles. At some point this week, he wants to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In terms of his game, however, Bennett doesn’t think he has much exploring to do. With a decorated amateur career behind him, Bennett made his first professional start two weeks ago at the Memorial just days after teeing it up in his final NCAA D-I Championship for Texas A&M. In his pro debut, Bennett made the cut and came in 63rd place. The following week, he posted a sneaky top-20 finish at the RBC Canadian Open.
Those results, along with his T16 finish as an amateur at the Masters, were a far cry from his first PGA Tour start at the Valero Texas Open in 2021, where the nerves were real.
“I remember at Valero I could barely get the ball up on the first tee. The first tee [at Memorial] was obviously hard for me, but I’m just continuing to get more and more experience, play in front of people, see some new courses. I’ve learned a lot in the few weeks I’ve been out here,” Bennett says.
There are three events that steeled Bennett’s mindset for this week: At last year’s U.S. Open at Brookline (for which Bennett qualified), he made the cut and experienced a major championship Sunday. At the U.S. Amateur at Ridgewood, Bennett took down top-ranked players on a historic venue and the match-play format tested his stamina. The Texan’s surreal week at Augusta National topped it all, as he found himself in a dream scenario playing with Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm on the biggest stage he’d ever encountered.
“My first couple of tour events I found myself trying to make my swing like this, or ball flight like this and I got caught up and wasn’t focusing on what I do well. It kind of showed that my good golf is good enough to compete. If I just do the little things right, I can,” Bennett says.
“If I play bad golf it won’t be because of nerves or anything. That’s what it was in my first couple of starts, I wasn’t comfortable. But now I feel comfortable out here and that’s what I’m happy about,” he continues.
Bennett has more than just his growing confidence to lean on at this stage in his career. There’s only one concrete difference between teeing it up as an amateur and a pro: money.
The 23-year-old collected $102,330 for his efforts in Canada last week. Not bad for Week 2 as a professional.
“The hole’s still the same size,” he says. “It’s just a little bit different being able to get paid for good finishes. I kind of think about that too much but I’m trying to find a good balance. But it’s hard, you know, right off the gates.”
Bennett is still figuring out how to process playing golf for a living, but he’s also been able to have a little bit of fun with it. One of the Texas A&M star's NIL deals is continuing this week at the U.S. Open, and it’s actually a partnership that he negotiated on his own.
The emblem for Cap Fleet, an emergency and police vehicle equipment company, is stitched onto the right shoulder of Bennett’s polo. In exchange for the coveted shirt position—which TV cameras already showed for several hours at the Masters—Bennett got a two-year lease for a new truck back in Texas.
“I heard ‘new truck’ and I was like, yeah, that sounds nice,” Bennett says.
It’s probably safe to assume that the company is pleased with the exchange.
Paychecks and sponsorships aside, pro life seems to be treating Bennett well. Walking the fairways of LACC on Wednesday, the recent college graduate signed dozens of autographs and snapped several pictures with fans. The Masters gave him a taste of true viral stardom. One moment in particular caught fire, and it wasn’t at all related to Bennett’s ultra-consistent driver or clutch short game. A video made the rounds of Bennett slipping in a Zyn, a popular mint-flavored nicotine pouch, and the internet lost it: “Everyone loved the Zyns,” Bennett says.
As the reigning U.S. Am champion, Bennett is part of the USGA’s traditional Thursday/Friday pairing with the previous year’s U.S. Open champion, Matt Fitzpatrick, and British Open champion, Cameron Smith.
For any other newly minted pro making his first major start, the pairing might be cause for some serious jitters. But Sam Bennett is ready.