U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 18, 2022

Sam Bennett

The Ridgewood Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Let's talk about making the quarterfinals. This is the farthest you've gotten at the U.S. Amateur. How did you feel about that?

SAM BENNETT: Yeah, I'm excited. Just to be able to be in this situation, it's fun. Today was a grind, 36 holes, and I just did the little things right, what you have to do. Put the ball in play off the tee and then usually I hit first and was able to stock shots and hit a lot of greens. It's good when you're up in the matches to just hit fairways and greens, put a lot of pressure on your opponent.

Q. You've not had an easy draw; Gabrelcik, Biondi and now Puig.

SAM BENNETT: I mean, it's whatever. If you get this far in match play, you've got to play good golf to beat anybody. That's what I did.

Q. Do you think this has toughened you up for the run here?

SAM BENNETT: I don't know, we'll see. Whoever is next, we'll deal with that when that comes.

Q. Let's talk about this match a little bit. It was pretty tight there for a while, and then on the inward nine, you started to pull away. What were you doing well?

SAM BENNETT: Just the same what I've been doing all week and what I've done my whole career, just pound fairways and pound greens, play smart. Coach talked me into laying up on 12 which was a really good decision. It left me a full 60, which I knocked in to a couple feet and went to 3-up, and I think that hole was kind of deciding the match. Everybody loves that hole, that little tricky hole, but I think we made the right decision there, and it paid off.

Q. You birdied the next hole, too.

SAM BENNETT: Yeah, I think I made like seven birdies, I don't know.

Q. How did you make the birdie on 13?

SAM BENNETT: 13, yeah, I was 280 pin, and I told my coach, I was thinking about pushing a hybrid up there, but I could have got handcuffed in that situation, so we decided to hit a 7-iron up there and left me a 90-yard shot and kind of knocked it dead.

Q. How do you feel right now with the way you're playing? You didn't play a lot of golf this summer. Was that on purpose?

SAM BENNETT: Yeah, for sure. This is my fourth go-around. There's no need to go travel around the world and waste time and play amateur tournaments. Last year I feel like I wasn't prepared for the Am. I had started out with the Western -- the Western would be cool to play in and win, but this is the big one. The Western is a grind, 72 holes and cut to 16.

I feel like I was really prepared for this week. I played a lot of golf. I didn't play any tournaments, but just Palmer Cup, made the cut at the U.S. Open, and I've been playing with my buddies and just having fun and making a bunch of birdies back at my home course. I feel like I was really prepared coming into this week and well rested.

Q. What's your home course?

SAM BENNETT: A little nine-hole course, but I've been in College Station at Traditions Club where our facility is at, playing there.

Q. So the match with buddies, was that at Traditions?

SAM BENNETT: Yeah.

Q. Team buddies or --

SAM BENNETT: No, just buddies, my cousin --

Q. Are they low handicap players?

SAM BENNETT: No, they shoot like upper 70s, low 80s.

Q. How many shots do you give them?

SAM BENNETT: We just play. We don't play matches.

Q. Does it keep you loose and --

SAM BENNETT: Yeah, it's fun. Yeah, we have fun out there. It's fun to get away. I don't live with any golfers on the team, and I'm able to kind of live sort of a more normal lifestyle, and it seems to be working.

Q. Do you listen to music while you play those rounds?

SAM BENNETT: Yeah, we listen to music, yeah. I like some Bryce Vine, some Wiz Khalifa, something kind of chill, just whatever songs. Just good vibe music.

Q. Is it moments like this that kind of solidify your decision to stay amateur, just being a part of this?

SAM BENNETT: Yeah, for sure. I love my teammates, I love my coaches, I love my university, and I was committed. I want to graduate, and I know my dad wanted me to graduate. I feel like it's the right decision, and I feel like I'm going to be a better player next year than I was coming off nationals this year.

It wasn't a hard decision to stay another year. That decision was made up a year ago. I was going to finish school no matter what happened. Yeah, tour golf would be cool, but I'm living in the moment, and I'm still 22 years old. I'm a small-town kid. Tour golf would be cool, but let me graduate and have some time in college first and enjoy a little bit.

Q. Have you played any with Stewart Hagestad at all?

SAM BENNETT: No.

Q. Do you know anything about him?

SAM BENNETT: Yeah, I've heard a few things.