Bennett Subdues Carr in U.S. Amateur Final

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PARAMUS, N.J. -- All week long , Sam Bennett was telling anyone who stuck a microphone or reporter's notebook in front of him that he was better than everyone else in the 122nd U.S. Amateur. It turned out that he was right.

On Sunday, the 22-year-old soon-to-be fifth-year senior at Texas A&M built a 3-up lead during the first 18 holes in a 36-hole final against Ben Carr at Ridgewood Country Club. After lunch, he birdied the 194-yard, par-3 second hole -- the 20th of the day -- and the 585-yard, par-5 third to gain a 5-up advantage. But Carr, who will be a fifth-year senior at Georgia Southern, was like a dog who had Bennett by the ankle, and he refused to let go. 

Carr began to gnaw away at Bennett's lead with birdies at the fifth and sixth holes, and he had cut the deficit he was facing to 2 down by the time they left the 14th green. A birdie at the par-5 17th reduced Bennett's lead to 1 up, but Carr couldn't quite complete his comeback. He was facing 10-foot putt for par at the 464-yard, par-4 18th hole when Bennett lagged his 16-foot birdie putt to within an inch of the cup -- and the No. 3-ranked amateur in the world then tapped in for a 1-up victory. 

"I have the utmost respect for Ben Carr, Bennett said after accepting the Havemeyer Trophy, having added his name to the list of champion inscribed on the trophy, a list that includes Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. "He wouldn't go away. After lunch, he started dropping in putts and chips from everywhere. It made me pretty nervous. Luckily, I was able to finish it off with a good iron shot on the last." 

On his way to the final, Bennett had to beat five players that are all top 30 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings -- No. 13 Nick Gabrelcik (1 up), No. 27 Fred Biondi (6&5), No. 10 David Puig (4&2), No. 9 Stewart Hagestad (3&2), and No. 8 Dylan Menante (1 up). Carr was easily the opponent with the lowest ranking; he's No. 70 in the WAGRs.

As for seedings, Carr was No. 34 and Bennett No. 36, after they were both among the nine players who tied for 30th in 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying on Monday and Tuesday. But as players kept saying all week, seedings didn't mean much of anything in a match-play field as well balanced as the one that battled it out over the last five days at Ridgewood. 

On Saturday, Carr played Derek Hitchner, the 2021 Minnesota State Amateur champion, in the semifinals. Hitchner led 1 up after six holes, but Carr played the next 10 holes in 2 under par, won four of them and earned his place in the final with a 3&2 victory. 

On Sunday afternoon, he was hoping for a similar comeback. He started one with the chip-in and the long putt that Bennett referred to. Both covered more than 60 feet, the chip-in coming first at the 23rd hole (No. 5, 436 yards, par 4) and then the long putt at the 24th (No. 6, 220 yards, par 3). Carr and Bennett both bogeyed the 26th hole, one of a series of long par 4s (476 yards), and Carr cut the deficit to 2 down by winning the 28th hole (No. 10, also 476 yards, par 4).

Bennett, who made a double bogey on the 28th hole, interrupted Carr's rally by winning the 30th hole (No. 12, 290, par 4) with a par. It looked as though Carr would get that one right back when, at the par-5 13th, Bennett hit his second shot out of bounds. But then Carr made what, in retrospect, could be considered a fatal mistake, considereing that he ended up losing 1 down. With his opponent in trouble, and par pretty much guaranteed to win the hole, Carr hit his second shot out of bounds. The hole wound up being tied with bogeys.

Having escaped the 13th without the loss of the hole, Bennett made another major mistake at the 14th (401 yards, par 4), where he missed a 2 1/2-foot putt for par, cutting his lead to 2 up with four holes remaining. 

Carr was in danger losing both the 15th and 16th holes, but dodged bullets with clutch putts.

A day after he was missing fairway regularly, in his 1-up victory over Dylan Menante, Bennett missed very few fairways on Sunday. One that he did miss, however, was the 17th in the afternoon, the 35th hole of the day. Carr hit his drive at the 557-yard, par-5 17th long and straight and was in position to go for the green in two. Bennett was forced to lay up to 100 yards. So Carr had the advantage at that point. But then Carr hooked his 3 wood second shot into the left greenside bunker, and Bennett hit his third shot, a wedge, to about 8 feet. The bunker that Carr was in was deep. It was a difficult shot from there, and he did not get his third shot inside Bennett's. But Carr made his birdie putt from 15 feet, and Bennett missed his 8-footer. 

At the 18th hole, Carr hit his tee shot into the right rough, and Bennett split the fairway. Carr had to manufacture a low, cutting second shot, which he hit pretty well, but it went a few yards over the green. Bennett pulled his second shot slightly. He didn't miss the left greenside bunker by all that much, but the ball landed on the green and ended up in relatively easy two-putt range. 
  

U.S. Amateur

At Ridgewood Country Club (par 71, 7,403 yards) 

& at Arcola (par 70, 7,251 yards)

Paramus, N.J. 

Stroke play (the top 64 finishers advance to match play on Wednesday)

Final results

T1. Fred Biondi                              69A  69R -- 138 (-5)

T1. Luke Gutchweski                     68R  70A -- 138

T1. Hugo Townsend                      71-R  67A -- 138

T1. Michael Thorbjornsen              68R  70A -- 138

5. Gordon Sargent                        74R  65A -- 139

T6. Adrien Dumont de Chassart    70R 70A -- 140

T6. Luke Potter                              71A 69R -- 140

T6. Christo Lamprecht                   68A 72R -- 140

T9. Rasmus N. Peterson               73R 68A -- 141

T9. Benjamin James                      71R 70A -- 141

T9. Mark Power                             73R 68A -- 141

T9. Cohen Trolio                           71R 70A -- 141

Playoff (15 players will vie for the last 11 spots in match play Wednesday morning) 

T54. Derek Hitchner                    72R 74A -- 146 (made it out of the playoff with a par on the first extra hole) 

T54. Frankie Capan                    74R 72A -- 146 (also made par on the first extra hole)

Missed cut 

Carson Herron                             76A 75R -- 151

Connor Schubring                      76R 75A -- 151

Samuel Storey                             79A 73R -- 152

Owen Mullen                                77A 78R -- 155

Cecil Belisle                                 73A 83R -- 156

Gunnar Broin                               78A 80R -- 158

Jacob Pedersen                           82A 79R -- 161


Match Play (all matches are being played at Ridgewood)

Round of 64

(64) Payton Snowberger def. (1) Luke Gutschewski 20 holes

(8) Luke Potter def. (57) Nicolas Cassidy 19 holes

(56) Nicholas Gross def. (9) Cohen Trolio 3&1

(4) Fred Biondi def. (61) Frankie Capan 1 up

(36) Sam Bennett def. (29) Nick Gabrelcik 19 holes 

(60) Ford Clegg def. (5) Gordon Sargent 21 holes

(63) Andrew Von Lossow def. (2) Michael Thorbjornsen 3&2

(7) Christo Lamprecht def. (58) Garrett Wood 1 up

(26) Alex Price def. (39) Wenyi Ding 23 holes

(23) Ricky Castillo def. (42) Ludvig Aberg 1 up

(3) Hugo Townsend def. (62) JonErik Alford 4&3

(59) Derek Hitchner def. (6) Adrien Dumont de Chassart 1 up 

(38) Josh Gilege def. (27) Pietro Bovari 1 up 

Round of 32

(33) Maxwell Moldovan def. (64) Snoeberger 2&1

(16) Dylan Menante def. (17) Carson Lundell 1 up

(8) Luke Potter def. (40) Bartley Forrester 3&2

(56) Nicholas Gross def. (41) Chris Francoeur 3&2

(36) Sam Bennett def. (4) Fred Biondi 6&5

(45) David Puig def. (52) Bryce Lewis  2 up

(37) Hayden Hopewell def. (60) Ford Clegg 2&1

(21) Stewart Hagestad def. (12) Benjamin James 6&4

(34) Ben Carr def. (63) Andrew Von Lossow 1 up

(18) Nathan Franks def. (15) Connor McKinney 1 up

(26) Alex Price def. (7) Christo Lamprecht  1 up

(23) Ricky Castillo def. (55) Owen Avrit 2&1

(3) Hugo Townsend def. (30) Campbell Kremer 1 up

(51) Shea Lague def. (19) Yuxin Lin 3&2

(59) Derek Hitchner def. (38) Josh Gliege 3&2

(22) Justin Biwer def. (54) Walker Isley 2&1

Round of 16

(16) Menante def. (33) Moldovan 1 up

(56) Gross def. (8) Potter 4&3

(36) Bennett def. (45) Puig 4&2

(21) Hagestad def. (37) Hopewell 2&1

(34) Carr def. (18) Franks 19 holes

(26) Price def. (23) Castillo 3&2

(51) Lague def. (3) Townsend 19 holes

(59) Hitchner def. (22) Biwer 3&2

Quarterfinals

(16) Menante def. (56) Gross 4&3

(36) Bennett def. (21) Hagestad 3&2

(34) Carr def. (26) Price 2&1

(59) Hitchner def. (51) Lague 3&2

Semifinals 

(36) Bennett def. (16) Menante 1 up

(34) Carr def. (51) Hitchner 3&2

Final

(36) Bennett def. (34) Carr 1 up (36 holes)