During his impressive run in the US Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club last August, Sam Bennett’s play was overshadowed by what was happening before, and after, he struck his shots. For every saucy club twirl, there was a lengthy pre-shot routine that preceded it, the type that turns you from hero into villain on Golf Twitter in record time.

Luckily for Bennett, at the time, his excessive re-gripping and deliberate pre-shot process went undetected by the masses. That’s no longer the case now, as Bennett contended at the Masters in April and briefly this week in the US Open at LACC, the two tournaments with arguably the most eyeballs on them all year.

On Sunday, NBC zeroed in on Bennett for his approach shot at the short par-4 third, where the Texas A&M product had 85 yards left to the hole. For a player of his caliber, a relatively straightforward shot, though you wouldn’t know that by the amount of times he re-gripped his club before taking the club back (it was 10. he did it 10 times):

This is a sick man pic.twitter.com/UdSQv3SuPr

— Dylan (@dylblo) June 18, 2023

Shades of Sergio Garcia in the 2002 US Open at Bethpage Black. Good news for Bennett is, there are no Long Island dads out at LACC heckling him.

In defence of Bennett, he’s been open about his struggles with anxiety on the golf course, saying: “It’s pretty bad. Having anxiety and then getting over a golf ball with all these thoughts in your head, put me in that moment at the US Am with the whole golf world watching, I mean, what can you expect?”

Now just imagine how he must have felt in the hunt at Augusta National, or on Saturday at LACC, when he began the day just five off the lead and wound up shooting a 79.

By the way, Bennett lipped this one out for eagle.

So close!

Sam Bennett nearly holed out for eagle on 3. #USOpen

? @nbc and @peacock pic.twitter.com/xb6qG5hR88

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) June 18, 2023

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Sam Bennett didn’t quite finish off his collegiate career the way he would have liked, but three days later he adeptly transitioned to professional status and showed some of the game that made him a sensation at this year’s Masters.

The reigning US Amateur champion opened the Memorial Tournament with a solid one-under 71 on Thursday on a sunny and warm day when Muirfield Village Golf Club had some fire in it. After saving bogey on his opening hole, the 23-year-old Texan navigated the Jack Nicklaus-designed test like … well, a pro. He was ready.

“I was locked in. I played the Masters. I made the cut at the US Open last year. I played Arnold Palmer, Valero, a tournament in Dubai. So I kind of know what it’s like a little bit out here and what it takes to be successful,” said Bennett, who stayed for a fifth year at Texas A&M but carded a five-over 75 in his final college round at the NCAA Championship Monday at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Aggies ended up 13th and did not advance to the matchplay portion of the championship eventually captured by Florida.

Exempt into the Memorial field by virtue of his US Amateur victory, Bennett said he didn’t feel any different playing as a professional as he did as an amateur. “I can get paid now for good finishes,” he said with a grin. “It’s been a long time coming. I had a great amateur career and was happy to get started with my professional debut here at Memorial.”

He weathered an ominous beginning, skulling a shot out of a greenside bunker at the par-4 10th hole that could have spelled early disaster. But he pitched from 27 yards to 13 feet and sank the bogey putt. A five-footer for birdie at the par-5 11th settled him down, and he mixed in three more birdies against two bogeys to break par on a set-up that reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm said was very much similar to a US Open in difficulty.

“I made a few good sand saves out of the bunker and I just played the par 5s good,” Bennet said. “Then when I got out of position, I just took my bogey and moved on.”

Bennett has good vibes in central Ohio, having qualified in the area for last year’s US Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he ended up T-49. Then came the Masters. After missing the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March, the two-time All-American was impressive at Augusta National Golf Club. He opened with a pair of 68s and stood third behind Rahm and Brooks Koepka through 36 holes. His eight-under 136 total was one stroke shy of Ken Venturi’s amateur record set in 1956.

He went on to tie for 16th with rounds of 74-76, playing 30 holes on Sunday, to finish as low amateur. Admittedly exhausted, he flew home to a celebratory reception and then cheered on his teammates in the Aggies Invitational.

Sam Bennett in action in Dubai. Supplied

He finished out his college career focused on helping his team, but he also admits chomping at the bit to take the next step in the game. “Yeah, I was itching,” he said. “But I knew what was at stake. I came back for my fifth year, and I wanted to respect my team, respect my decision. So they’re first and foremost. And tour golf’s always going to be there for me. I wanted to have one last run at a national championship with my team.”

But now he is on another run. He will play in next week’s RBC Canadian Open and then tee it up at the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club as he makes the transition to the pro game and makes some lifestyle adjustments to help create a path to success.

“I just, just quit living like a college kid. I’ll probably start with that,” Bennett said. “Just doing the right things. Being smart. Making right decisions. My good golf, I just know that I have a really unique game and unique swing, I just got to own it and play my game and it will be just fine. … This is right where I want to be, right where I’ve always wanted to do and I’m looking to seize the opportunity.”

Meanwhile, by finishing fifth in the PGA Tour University standings, Bennett earned fully exempt Korn Ferry Tour membership and he is exempt into PGA Tour Q-School final qualifying.

The Masters, he said, was a proper way to prepare for the challenges ahead. He put a good foot forward amid a field loaded with the top players in the $20 million designated event.

“It was good. It’s tough out here. You got to keep it in play. I did a pretty good job of that,” he said, assessing his performance. “This was a good start … a good start to my debut.”

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Bennett won’t be sporting a T-Mobile logo during this week’s SEC Championship, his first college start since his T-16 at the Masters, or the upcoming NCAA post-season. Instead, the arrangement calls for him to promote the brand through social posts and event appearances.

According to a T-Mobile spokesperson: “Bennett will help amplify T-Mobile’s efforts in the college athletics and NIL spaces, sharing how the Un-carrier helps him stay connected to friends and family while away competing through branded social posts, event appearances, and more.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sam Bennett (@sambennettgolf)

No details were given on how much money Bennett is receiving. Luke Feldlam, whose Advance NIL advisory company works with college athletes, estimated to Golf Digest during the Masters that future deals for Bennett could fall in the six- and even seven-figure range based on the attention he received at Augusta National.

Bennett is the fourth collegiate athlete that the company has signed, joining softball players Jaiden Fields (Georgia) and Montana Fouts (Alabama) and basketball player Jalen Hood-Schifino (Indiana). T-Mobile is also a sponsor of the SEC and Texas A&M.

The arrangement all falls in line with the NCAA’s updated rules on student-athletes being able to benefit off their name, image and likeness, as well as changes to the USGA/R&A’s rules of amateur status.

The reigning US Amateur champion, Bennett was a breakout star at Augusta National two weeks ago, opening with a pair of 68s to play his way into the final threesome of the third round. He eventually finished tied for 16th to earn low amateur honours in lieu of the $261,000 that professionals who finished in the same spot earned.

After the SEC Championship, the Aggies are in line to qualify for the NCAA Regionals with the hope of advancing to the NCAA Championship. Bennett, meanwhile, is ranked No. 4 in the PGA Tour University Velocity Global Ranking for outgoing seniors. If he remains in the top five after the conclusion of the NCAA Championship, he will earn a Korn Ferry Tour card for the remainder of the 2023 season.

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Sam Bennett’s amateur status might have prevented him from collecting a big prize money payout for his first-page leaderboard performance at the Masters, but it doesn’t mean he went home empty handed. Not only was the fifth-year senior at Texas A&M low amateur at Augusta — receiving a hero’s welcome on his return to Texas A&M — but he’s also probably secured seven figures in future name-image-likeness (NIL) endorsement money that college athletes and amateur golfers can now collect. That’s according to NIL expert and sports attorney Luke Fedlam, whose Advance NIL advisory company works with college athletes, schools and professional teams to navigate the endorsement space.

“The sort of television time Sam is getting? The exposure his story is getting and the attention his social-media channels are getting? I’d estimate it will be worth at least in the high six figures — and probably seven figures — for him going forward,” says Fedlam, a partner and the sports law chair at Porter Wright in Columbus, Ohio. “We’ve seen college athletes on television in events like football or the NCAA Tournament, but the opportunity to have brand deals in place and represent them in competition against the professionals on the biggest stage? This changes the metric.”

Bennett is the obvious beneficiary of his own great play — shooting back-to-back 68s to get into a third-round final pairing with Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm  before finishing T-16 — but the sponsors who signed up with him before the week started really won the lottery. Ping, Suncast, Johnnie O, Veritex Bank and Cap Fleet are getting at least eight hours of prime Masters television exposure — and getting it in an advertising environment where other commercials are dramatically limited.

Bennett’s logos were mostly competing with the ones on the other players in his group — not tournament spots with big on-course signage. “There’s not only that television exposure value to a sponsor, but the fact that Bennett’s underdog story is one that everybody wants to follow,” Fedlam says. “He’s inspiring fans to Google his name to see what he’s about, which leads them to his social media channels, where he’s been thanking his sponsors. Conservatively, that’s been millions of dollars worth of exposure.”

Indeed, Bennett’s story includes the inspiring but heartbreak tattoo he has on his left forearm, an inscription that his dying father wrote to him before he passed away in 2021.

Golf hasn’t had marquee NIL players like Texas football player Bijan Robinson or LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, who have already made millions before their “professional” careers begin. But Fedlam says golf is ahead of many sports in the sense that the NIL game is one every player already plays.

“The sport is already used to its players trading their name, image and likeness to endorse products,” Fedlam says. “Pros have been wearing hats and logos for decades, and now college players stand to benefit from that. You know other brands are going to be investigating amateur players who have the potential to get exposure in big tournaments, because it presents the chance to get in for less investment and see a potentially huge return.”

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The reigning US Amateur champion, who made a huge splash in the Masters last week by contending into the weekend, said on Sunday night that he’d like to compete on Monday in the Aggie Invitational hosted by his college team, Texas A&M. The effort would have required Bennett to walk for 36 holes on the first day and 18 on the second — carrying his own bag.

Exhausted, but clearly torn, the fifth-year senior said after visiting Butler Cabin as the tournament’s low amateur at two-under: “I don’t have many more college tournaments left, so I’d like to play in my home event,” the fifth-year senior said on Sunday. “I came back to school to be with my team and do that, so I think I want to play.”

Bennett returned to College Station, Texas, on Sunday night and got a rousing welcome. But by Monday morning he’d decided that he just couldn’t pull off playing in the Aggie. So, he wasn’t among Texas A&M’s six starters when they teed off.

The Aggie faithful will forgive him. Bennett, 23, put the programme in the biggest spotlight possible when he opened his first Masters by shooting 68-68 and being among those near the top of the leaderboard heading into the third round. He ultimately struggled on the weekend by shooting 76-74, but he became an inspiration to so many amateurs who dream of making their mark on one of golf’s biggest stages.

“From growing up as a kid watching this tournament, to losing my dad, to the struggles I’ve faced and still face — to be able to walk up that green on 18 on a Sunday, Easter Sunday, and just be appreciative of everything … if you had told me I was going to be here when I was a kid, I would have thought you were crazy,” Bennett said.

Bennett was left thrilled, but exhausted by the experience, which is why the well-deserved rest of Monday was no surprise.

“I was tired this weekend. I think that’s what it was,” he said on Sunday. “My body wasn’t moving how it should be. That’s why I had the driver slotted the first two rounds, and then my legs kind of gave out. It wasn’t turning and started missing them left. … I think I need to get in a little better shape, get in the gym.”

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After a magical week at the 2023 Masters that included staying in Butler Cabin, being the low amateur (by far), and even contending on the weekend against the best players on the planet, Bennett returned to College Station late Sunday night. And he received a well-deserved hero’s welcome. Have a look:

.@sammy_golf24243 is back in Aggieland. pic.twitter.com/WckWRjYmiJ

— Morgan Weaver (@morganweaver_) April 10, 2023

What a scene. Very cool.

That was a pretty speedy return from Augusta National to central Texas so we’re assuming Bennett flew private, another sign of a new era in amateur athletics. Bennett may not have been able to pocket the quarter-of-a-million dollars he would have earned for his T-16 finish if he were a pro, but as he hinted on Friday, he’s doing pretty well with all those logos on his shirts due to NIL deals.

And as you can see in the video, he was wearing a Masters logo — he also had to buy warm clothes for the weekend at Dick’s — coming upon being greeted by a gaggle of people. About the only thing that could have made it better if he was wearing a green jacket instead.

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For anybody grabbing a burger on Saturday night at the Five Guys on Crane Creek Drive in Augusta, that guy you thought you recognised from TV, causing bother for the best golfers in the world … it was indeed him. Sam Bennett, the Masters first-timer who became a sensation at Augusta National by contending deep into the weekend as a 23-year-old amateur, was so fried by the night before the final round that he just wanted to hang with his buddies and gobble some fast food. “Nothing crazy,” Bennett said.

No, crazy was left for the golf course, where a leg-weary Bennett played the final 11 holes of the weather-delayed third round on Sunday morning before finishing up the last 18 in the afternoon. After a spectacular opening on Thursday of birdie-eagle and 68s in the first two rounds, the reigning US Amateur champion was slapped back into reality by going 76-74 over the last 36 holes to finish in a tie for 16th place with a two-under total.

Nuttier still was that Bennett was considering a quick return to school on Monday so that he could play in the Aggie Invitational in Bryan, Texas, where the players are scheduled for the usual 36 holes on the first day and 18 more on Tuesday. The golfers carry their bags, with Bennett drawing laughs when someone asked about a pushcart. “This ain’t Stanford,” he quipped.

“I don’t have many more college tournaments left, so I’d like to play in my home event,” the fifth-year senior said on Sunday. “I came back to school to be with my team and do that, so I think I want to play.”

Sam Bennett poses with the trophy for being the low amateur in the Masters. Christian Petersen

The young man from little Madisonville, Texas, will no doubt get a hero’s welcome. The SEC Golfer of the Year in 2022, Bennett burst onto the national scene last summer when he won the US Amateur, which earned him a spot in the Masters. He has also shared about the devastating loss of his father, Mark, who died in June 2021 after a battle with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Bennett got a tattoo on his arm to honour his dad.

Bennett was clearly disappointed to bogey the 72nd hole on Sunday but was met with admiring cheers from the Augusta gallery and an embrace behind the green from his mother and brother. Few amateurs had reached such lofty territory in the Masters. Only three had ever finished second.

“From growing up as a kid watching this tournament, to losing my dad, to the struggles I’ve faced and still face — to be able to walk up that green on 18 on a Sunday, Easter Sunday, and just be appreciative of everything … if you had told me I was going to be here when I was a kid, I would have thought you were crazy,” Bennett said.

Bennett played with such poise and consistency in the first two rounds that it looked like he might do the unthinkable and continue to contend into the final round. But when play resumed at 8.30am local time on Sunday, he never got his mojo back. He bogeyed the 13th and 14th in finishing up the third round and, playing alongside two-time major champion Collin Morikawa in the fourth, Bennett made just one birdie, at the 14th, and bogeyed 8, 12 and 18 for his 74.

“I was tired this weekend. I think that’s what it was,” he said. “My body wasn’t moving how it should be. That’s why I had the driver slotted the first two rounds, and then my legs kind of gave out. It wasn’t turning and started missing them left. … I think I need to get in a little better shape, get in the gym.”

His heavy legs had no problem carrying him one final time up the hill at 18 where he one day hopes to return.

“I haven’t had kids yet,” Bennett said, “so that walk up 18 was definitely the coolest experience of my life.”

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Reigning NCAA champ Gordon Sargent was the amateur Masters darling early this week, gaining rave reviews from Rory McIlroy and Max Homa. But once the tournament started, reigning US Amateur champ Sam Bennett made sure to steal the am attention by doing something that hasn’t been done in three decades.

Bennett, a fifth-year senior at Texas A&M, turned in an opening-round 68 at Augusta National on Thursday to sit just three back of the lead in a tie for sixth.

“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.”

Bennett threw his name on the leaderboard early in his round thanks to a birdie-eagle start, chipping in for 3 at the second hole. Though Bennett would add just one more red figure on the afternoon he kept the big numbers at bay, turning in a clean card in his Masters debut.

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

If that sounds impressive, it is, as Bennett is the first amateur in the last 30 years to post a bogey-free round.

The 68 is the lowest score by an amateur at the Masters since James Driscoll’s 68 in 2002, although just short of Ken Venturi’s record of 66.

Amateurs haven’t made the cut at the last two Masters, and Bennett seems well on his way to keeping that from becoming a streak. Of greater note, the last time an amateur finished in the top 15 was Ryan Moore back in 2005 (T-13) with the last top 10 coming in 1962.

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By Ryan Herrington
Francis Ouimet can give Bobby Jones a run for his money as the most notable amateur ever to win a US Open. The 20-year-old did so in grand fashion, winning the title in 1913 in a historic playoff upset of British greats Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. He did it on the course across the street from his house, The Country Club. Oh, and he put the sport on the map in the US.

Suffice it to say, asking an amateur to repeat Ouimet’s feat 109 years later is a bit much. (No amateur has won a US Open since Johnny Goodman in 1933.) But expecting one (or more) of the 15 guys playing for pride rather than pay this week to step up and show well is very realistic. Last year was the first time since 2007 that no amateur made the cut in the Open. And in the last 24 years, somebody has been around on Sunday to receive the low amateur medal 21 times.

So who is the most likely to succeed from the Class of 2022? Here is our breakdown of the amateurs competing in the USGA’s signature men’s event with their chances of making it to the weekend and vying for low-amateur honors. To sort and manage the group, we’ve created categories of confidence, 3 signifying being most confident to make the cut, down to 1.

Keita Nakajima. Andrew Redington

Confidence Level 3

Sam Bennett, 22, Madisonville, Texas
Keita Nakajima, 21, Japan
Michael Thorbjornsen, 20, Wellesley, Massachusetts
Travis Vick, 22, Hunters Creek Village, Texas
William Mouw, 21, Chino, California

Bennett comes in on a nine-month roll, having earned first-team All-American honours at Texas A&M with a 69.97 scoring average. He also had a top-10 at NCAAs earlier this month after a closing-round 64.

Just as he did at the Masters in April, Nakajima, the reigning Asia-Pacific Amateur champion (he won at Dubai Creek), arrives at the US Open as the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world by a large margin. But expectations are more tempered compared to at Augusta National. That should work to his benefit as he has more experience in professional events than any other amateur in the field, with another top-10 finish in May on the Japan Tour.

We don’t like Thorbjornsen, playing in his second US Open after making the cut at Pebble in 2019, talking about a wrist injury heading into this week at Brookline, with possible surgery awaiting later this year. That said, the Stanford junior-to-be has dealt with a version of this injury since high school and adrenaline should dull all the pain as he plays only 15 minutes from his family home in Wellseley.

Before Vick clinched the deciding point for Texas in its NCAA Championship win earlier this month, he played his way into the US Open in the Dallas final qualifier. If he gets airtime on TV this week, expect to hear a lot about how he was a multi-sport athlete in high school, having played quarterback on the football team and pitcher on the baseball team from a school that produced former MLB standouts Lance Berkman and Andy Pettitte. The experience is something Vick says has been a significant asset in him becoming a talent that reached the US Amateur semifinals last August.

Mouw, a junior at Pepperdine, had six top-10s in 14 starts this past season after playing on the victorious the US Walker Cup in 2021. And his game seems potentially suited to US Open venues; he was medalist in his final qualifier with a 12-under 130 showing at The Olympic Club.

Austin Greaser. David Cannon

Confidence Level 2

Fred Biondi, 21, Brazil
Adrian Dumont de Chassart, 22, Belgium
Austin Greaser, 21, Vandalia, Ohio
Stewart Hagestad, 31, Newport Beach, California
Ben Lorenz, 20, Peoria, Illinois

Biondi will be a fifth-year senior in the autumn at Florida and was runner-up at the 2022 Latin America Amateur. He’ll play for the International Team in college golf’s Palmer Cup later this summer.

The Belgian pipeline to the University of Illinois continued with Dumont de Chassart, who followed in the footsteps of tour pros Thomas Dietry and Thomas Pieters. And he’s had similar success, winning Big Ten player of the year twice.

Greaser, the US Amateur runner-up a year ago at Oakmont, will benefit from having played in the Masters and go through the “oh my gosh, I’m playing a major” tension before.

No amateur might be more motivated to make the cut than US Mid-Amateur champion Hagestad, who had played in three previous US Opens but failed to make the weekend in any of them.

Lorenz just finished his sophomore season at Oklahoma and drove with his older brother/caddie Blake the 12 hours from Arizona to Oregon to compete in his Final Qualifier. He started playing golf at age three and used to watch VHS tapes of Bobby Jones and Jack Nicklaus.

Laird Shepherd. Luke Walker / R&A

Confidence Level 1

Nick Dunlap, 18, Huntsville, Alabama
Caleb Manuel, 20, Topsham, Maine
Maxwell Moldovan, 20, Uniontown, Ohio
Charles Reiter 22, Palm Desert, California
Laird Shepherd, 24, England

Dunlap won the US Junior title last summer, securing his exemption to Brookline. He’s heading to Tuscaloosa to play on the Alabama golf team in the autumn. In addition to his golf prowess, he is past age-division runner-up in the NFL’s Punt, Pass and Kick competition.

Manuel should get some New England love this week, as the reigning Big East player of the year out of UConn. After getting through Final Qualifying he woke up to 250-plus messages on his phone. He first qualified for the Maine Amateur at age 13.

A rising junior at Ohio State, Moldovan was a three-time winner this past season while posting a 70.79 stroke average, the best by a Buckeye since 1980. He and his father, John, a teaching pro who is caddieing for him, drove from Ohio to Boston and then they’ll head to Rhode Island next week to play in the Northeast Amateur.

Reiter, a junior at San Diego, has got three sponsor’s exemptions into The American Express, where he shot a 63 at PGA West during the third round in 2019.

This is the last of the majors that Shepherd is exempt into off his British Amateur victory a year ago, having missed the cut at the Open Championship and the Masters. The timing of the US Open, unfortunately, means he can’t defend that British Amateur title, as the championship is going on this week at Royal Lytham and St Annes.

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“I’m excited to play my first DP World Tour event in Dubai, and I want to win,” said the Texas A&M University senior who received a sponsor’s exemption courtesy of being the top-ranked player in the PGA Tour University Velocity Global Ranking.

“Any week I tee it up that’s the aim. I’m not here to make the cut or the top 20. I feel my game is ready and I belong out here. I’m going to try to win this golf tournament.”

The 22-year-old American hotshot seemed blissfully nonchalant about taking his place in a prestigious Dubai field that counts defending champion Paul Casey, three of the world’s top 10 players, multiple Masters, Open and Major winners, numerous Ryder Cup veterans, as well as serial DP World Tour and PGA Tour event winners.

“I’d like to play with Rory [McIlroy] on Thursday and Friday, but I’m OK playing with anyone. Hopefully I get a good pairing or group,” said Bennett who also revealed a tourism bucket-list for his first trip the UAE.

RELATED: Texas A&M’s Sam Bennett is on a very different college road trip as he tees it up in Dubai

“Dubai is awesome, it’s certainly a lot different from the small town in Texas where I live. The big skyscrapers are unreal. It looks like Las Vegas in the Middle East. The drive to the hotel from the airport was unbelievable with these big buildings and billboards everywhere.

“I’m here with my cousin and girlfriend and we have a few tourist things on the list. We’re going to hit Mall of the Emirates to go skiing, the Burj Khalifa – we have to see the tallest building in the world – and we’ll go to The Palm to visit Atlantis – they’re all on my girlfriend’s list.”

Simon Corkill, Executive Tournament Director – Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic, revealed Bennett’s grandstand ability and infectious enthusiasm are vital ingredients in delivering a potentially memorable Dubai debut.

“Sam has fantastic ability and, like so many of the young guns ripping up the U.S. college circuit, amazing mental fortitude for such a young man,” said Corkill. 

“He has the world at his feet and I am sure our knowledgeable galleries at Emirates Golf Club will take great delight watching a young talent who is destined for the highest echelons of the game.” 

As it turns out, Bennett hasn’t drawn McIlroy but will partner Andy Sullivan and Sami Valimaki instead, off the 10th at 11.40am.

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