WEST POINT, Miss. – Texas A&M junior Sam Bennett tallied his second individual title of 2021 with a victory at Mississippi State's Old Waverly Collegiate Championship on Sunday at the Old Waverly Golf Club.
Bennett, from Madisonville, Texas, fired a 2-under par 70 in the weather-delayed final round to get to 11-under for the tournament, which was two strokes better than Eli Scott of Georgia. Next up for Bennett is a spot in next week's Valero Texas Open at the TPC San Antonio. Bennett received a PGA Tour exemption by winning the Cabo Collegiate at the TPC San Antonio earlier this month.
"I'm so pumped getting a win before heading to the Valero Texas Open," Bennett said. "It was a great way to prepare by playing against such a strong field at Old Waverly. My confidence level is through the roof and I cannot wait to get to San Antonio and tee it up against the best in the world. This win just makes the experience a little sweeter."
Added head coach Brian Kortan, "Sam is extremely focused and he's playing really well right now. I'm excited to see him get a chance to tee it up against the PGA Tour guys. I hope he's able to slow down and enjoy it. He's a competitive son of a gun."
With Bennett leading the way, the Aggies placed in a tie for second in the Old Waverly team standings behind No. 13 Georgia, who were 4-under on Sunday and 20-under for the tournament. Matching the Aggies at 10-under was host Mississippi State. Rounding out the team standings were Vanderbilt (-3), Tennessee (-3), Arkansas (-2), LSU (-2), East Tennessee State (+2), Ole Miss (+4), Texas Tech (+6), Alabama (+8), Little Rock (+11), Kansas State (+15) and Southern Mississippi (+16).
"We needed to be a little tougher, more resilient today," Kortan said. "We started pretty well but we had some hiccups that derailed us a little bit. But it was a positive experience. We put up good scores on a great golf course and we beat a bunch of good teams."
Other Aggie finishers were freshman Daniel Rodrigues in a tie for 16th at 1-under (73-70-72), senior Walker Lee in a tie for 27th at 1-over (71-69-74), senior Dan Erickson in a tie for 40th at 3-over (72-69-78), sophomore William Paysse in a tie for 46th at 4-over (75-70-75) and senior Brandon Smith in a tie for 68th at 6-over (75-74-76).
Aggies on the Leaderboard (Final):
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About Texas A&M Athletics | Home of the 12th Man:
One of the most successful Athletics Departments in the nation, Texas A&M ranked No. 15 in the 2018-19 Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings and is one of eight Division I institutions nationally to finish in the top 20 of the prestigious ranking of athletics success for at least 13 consecutive years. For more information, go to www.12thMan.com.
About Texas A&M University:
Texas A&M University, the flagship university within the Texas A&M University System, is a tier-one research institution with nearly $1 billion in research grants and more than 69,000 students. The President of Texas A&M University has strategic oversight for campuses in College Station and Galveston, TX and Doha, Qatar. We include The Health Science Center with the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, as well as The Texas A&M School of Law and Mays Business School. For more information, go to www.tamu.edu.
Bennett, from Madisonville, Texas, fired a 2-under par 70 in the weather-delayed final round to get to 11-under for the tournament, which was two strokes better than Eli Scott of Georgia. Next up for Bennett is a spot in next week's Valero Texas Open at the TPC San Antonio. Bennett received a PGA Tour exemption by winning the Cabo Collegiate at the TPC San Antonio earlier this month.
"I'm so pumped getting a win before heading to the Valero Texas Open," Bennett said. "It was a great way to prepare by playing against such a strong field at Old Waverly. My confidence level is through the roof and I cannot wait to get to San Antonio and tee it up against the best in the world. This win just makes the experience a little sweeter."
Added head coach Brian Kortan, "Sam is extremely focused and he's playing really well right now. I'm excited to see him get a chance to tee it up against the PGA Tour guys. I hope he's able to slow down and enjoy it. He's a competitive son of a gun."
With Bennett leading the way, the Aggies placed in a tie for second in the Old Waverly team standings behind No. 13 Georgia, who were 4-under on Sunday and 20-under for the tournament. Matching the Aggies at 10-under was host Mississippi State. Rounding out the team standings were Vanderbilt (-3), Tennessee (-3), Arkansas (-2), LSU (-2), East Tennessee State (+2), Ole Miss (+4), Texas Tech (+6), Alabama (+8), Little Rock (+11), Kansas State (+15) and Southern Mississippi (+16).
"We needed to be a little tougher, more resilient today," Kortan said. "We started pretty well but we had some hiccups that derailed us a little bit. But it was a positive experience. We put up good scores on a great golf course and we beat a bunch of good teams."
Other Aggie finishers were freshman Daniel Rodrigues in a tie for 16th at 1-under (73-70-72), senior Walker Lee in a tie for 27th at 1-over (71-69-74), senior Dan Erickson in a tie for 40th at 3-over (72-69-78), sophomore William Paysse in a tie for 46th at 4-over (75-70-75) and senior Brandon Smith in a tie for 68th at 6-over (75-74-76).
Aggies on the Leaderboard (Final):
| Place | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
| T2 | Texas A&M | 285 | 274 | 295 | 854 |
| 1 | Sam Bennett | 69 | 66 | 70 | 205 |
| T16 | Daniel Rodrigues | 73 | 70 | 72 | 215 |
| T27 | Walker Lee | 71 | 69 | 77 | 217 |
| T40 | Dan Erickson | 72 | 69 | 78 | 219 |
| T68 | Brandon Smith | 75 | 74 | 76 | 225 |
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About Texas A&M Athletics | Home of the 12th Man:
One of the most successful Athletics Departments in the nation, Texas A&M ranked No. 15 in the 2018-19 Learfield IMG College Directors' Cup standings and is one of eight Division I institutions nationally to finish in the top 20 of the prestigious ranking of athletics success for at least 13 consecutive years. For more information, go to www.12thMan.com.
About Texas A&M University:
Texas A&M University, the flagship university within the Texas A&M University System, is a tier-one research institution with nearly $1 billion in research grants and more than 69,000 students. The President of Texas A&M University has strategic oversight for campuses in College Station and Galveston, TX and Doha, Qatar. We include The Health Science Center with the College of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, as well as The Texas A&M School of Law and Mays Business School. For more information, go to www.tamu.edu.