Masters Amateur Sam Bennett Brushes History With Bogey-Free 68

The 23-year-old carded the first bogey-free round from an amateur since 1965.

Sam Bennett didn’t bat an eye when reporters told him that he tied the Masters record for lowest front nine score by an amateur. His name will be etched in the Augusta National history books alongside seven other golfers, including Ken Venturi, Matt Kuchar and another Texan, Ben Crenshaw. But that didn’t faze him. 

“I wasn't thinking of any record. I was just trying to stack shots and give myself some looks and keep it under the hole, which I did,” Bennett said. 

It was what Bennett didn’t do at the revered major championship venue that stuck with him.

On Thursday, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion made two birdies, a chip-in eagle, and 15 pars. Not a single bogey graced his first Masters scorecard.

Bennett, 23, capped off the clean round by holing a testy four-foot putt—one of his most important strokes of the day. 

“There's very few things that I like more than playing a round of golf bogey-free. To make that four-footer for par, what do they say? It's going to make dinner taste better,” Bennett said. 

Whether Bennett is interested in Augusta records or not, he certainly sniffed a few of them with his 4-under round of 68. 

What a start 🔥

Amateur Sam Bennett holes out for eagle and moves to 3-under at #theMasters pic.twitter.com/uh2KY3HLTP

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 6, 2023

Bennett's round today wasn’t the first bogey-free round by an amateur, but it hasn’t been done in 58 years. In the 1965 Masters, Billy Joe Patton went bogey-free, also in the first round, and shot 70.

Bennett was just two shots shy of Venturi’s record for the lowest score by an amateur at the tournament, set in 1956 (an opening-round 66). Venturi went on to finish solo second in that Masters, which is also the best finish by an amateur. Only two other amateurs finished T2 throughout Masters history: Frank Stranahan in 1947 and Charlie Coe in 1961. Venturi was the only amateur to finish alone in second place.

On Thursday’s leaderboard, Bennett’s name sits next to his playing partner, defending Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, who also shot 4 under. Although Scheffler is a Texas Longhorn, Bennett takes inspiration from him. Bennett grew up in a tiny town called Madisonville, Texas, and he honed his swing playing a nine-hole golf course which he often describes as making a cow-pasture look nice. He sees Scheffler’s unconventional footwork, and it makes him proud of his own home-grown move. 

“I look up to him a lot because I feel like we kind of play similar games, control the bounce, use the wind to hit certain shots, to do so. I like his swing, how—what's the quote? 'It's not golf swing, it's golf.' He kind of shows that with his footing and his swing,” Bennett said of the world No. 1. “It's unique, and I feel like I'm kind of like that as well.”

Bennett was nervous before teeing it up with Scheffler and his other playing partner, Max Homa, but it was a good nervous. The 23-year-old felt the same way at Ridgewood Country Club last summer while battling Ben Carr in the finals of the U.S. Am. He thrives in those moments of strain. 

“This morning I was anxious. I was fiddling around. I couldn't really sit still. I was ready to get off that box,” Bennett said. “I just enjoy it. That's where I want to be, to be able to hit those shots with the crowds and the pressure. I loved it. Like I've said multiple times, I'm experienced. I feel like I'm ready for this stage. I haven't played my best in college golf, but when the pressure is on, I tend to play pretty well.”

Standing at T6, Bennett will undoubtedly arrive to Augusta National tomorrow with that same confident aura and not a single Masters record on his mind.