Sam Bennett became a star at the 2023 Masters while trying to overcome his father's death. His journey continues.
This article originally ran in the March 2024 print issue of Sports Illustrated, and with Sam Bennett currently 30th in the Korn Ferry Tour standings entering this week's KFT Championship in French Lick, Ind., we wanted to share it here.
Though it’s only an hour away, he doesn’t venture to his family home as often as he thinks he should or his mother, Stacy, wishes he would. He doesn’t want the pictures on the walls—of a father gone too soon, of a child’s dream already realized—to define him. “That’s part of the story, but it’s not hisA flimsy wire fence guards Oak Ridge Country Club. Shallow dirt patches masquerade as sand traps.
When Mark was in his early 40s, though, his dental hygienist had to begin subtly steering him to the correct tooth as he started procedures. Stacy began finding his keys in the freezer. When he drove, to her horror, he often straddled the center yellow line. Marcus once encountered him in the living room, attention fixed on a necktie tutorial on YouTube, as he fumbled with his collar.
In 2018, Sam enrolled at A&M on a golf scholarship. He had met the coaches before with his father and liked them. “I didn’t want to be that far from home,” he says. “It was always probably going to be A&M.” By the time Sam left for school, Mark had slipped from mere forgetfulness to needing full-time supervision and help with basic necessities like dressing and preparing food.
As Mark’s condition worsened, Sam’s play sharpened. After middling freshman and sophomore seasons, Sam won three tournaments as a junior. The anxieties that roiled off the course stilled when he stepped inside the ropes, thanks, in part, to Kortan’s steady hand. Through the final year of Mark’s life and after his death, the Bennetts were stricken by afflictions common among Alzheimer’s caregivers. Stacy gained weight and wrestled with depression. Jake suffered severe mental health episodes. Marcus, usually gregarious, found himself removed and angry. Both brothers struggled to cope, making choices they would regret. Sam sought continuing treatment for anxiety. He worried about having the same setbacks as his brothers.
Despite the conditions and intimidating playing partners—who Sam says were supportive throughout the round—Sam shot a 76 in the third round. Playing with Collin Morikawa on Sunday, he shot a 74 to finish at two under, good enough for a tie for 16th. Sam finished the tournament as the lowest of the seven amateurs who competed, earning a spot alongside Rahm, who won the tournament, for a postround interview with Jim Nantz in Butler Cabin.
Thanks to his U.S. Amateur title and the sponsor exemptions he earned after the Masters, Sam played in 10 Tour events in 2023—including the Memorial, one of a handful of “elevated” events with $20 million purses—and the U.S. Open. He made the cut in half of those tournaments and stood five under through two rounds in the U.S. Open, tied once again with Scheffler. Though he scuffled over the weekend, finishing tied for 43rd at five over.
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