Oklahoma, Texas A&M’s Bennett grab wins at Cabo Collegiate

March 3, 2021 | by Brayden Conover of AmateurGolf.com

Oklahoma Men's Golf (Oklahoma Athletics)

Sam Bennett earns a PGA Tour exemption while the Sooners continue to build momentum

No. 1/7 ranked Oklahoma continues to roll as they have their eyes set on the national title already.

The Sooners took care of business at the Cabo Collegiate this week. Played at TPC San Antonio due to COVID-19, the event featured six of the top 10 teams in the nation per Golfstat’s D-1 Rankings.

Holding the 18 and 36-hole leads, Oklahoma closed out the tournament with a 10-under 278 team total to shut the door in the face of a charging No. 4/15 Florida State. Sooner senior Garett Reband closed the deal with a clutch par-save on the 18th to shut out the Seminoles while also securing a second place finish for himself.

.@GarettReband drains this putt to clinch the team win for @OU_MGolf at the @CaboCollegiate 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Az8e6Y6Yff
— College Golf Showcase (@CGolfShowcase) March 4, 2021

“Coming up a shot short is always tough but it was a great week,” Reband said in an interview with AmateurGolf.com. “My mindset was simply go out and make as many birdies as you can. It was a perfect day for scoring so I knew it was going to take a good score to win.”

Reband’s runner up finish was just a shot off the pace of Texas A&M junior Sam Bennett. The Round of 16 finisher at the 2020 U.S. Amateur began the day three back of 36-hole leader Vincent Norrman (Texas Tech). Shooting a final round 5-under 67, Bennett got the win, something he was not able to do last week while his team got the win at the Border Olympics hosted by the University of Houston.

“Me and [Brian] Kortan (A&M’s head coach) were talking,” Bennett said in an interview with A&M post round. “I learned a lot about what I did wrong and it feels good to come out on top this week.”

Bennett was able to come out in top thanks to a huge back nine on Wednesday. Following a one under 35 on the front, the Aggie junior turned on the afterburners to take charge of the tournament with a back nine 4-under 32.

“I saw a fighter,” Kortan said post round. “He works his tail off out there. He doesn’t give up on a round, he just didn’t give in today at all which is what you want to see.”

The win gives Bennett an exemption into the 2021 Valero Texas Open, also held at TPC San Antonio.

🗣️ Hear from the Head Coach @BKGolf60 and the @CaboCollegiate CHAMPION @sammy_golf24243!#AggieGolf | #GigEm pic.twitter.com/hQuE7VkJLB
— Texas A&M Men's Golf (@AggieMensGolf) March 3, 2021

Results: Cabo Collegiate

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Sam Bennett	Madisonville, TX	800	74-70-67=211
2	Garett Reband	York, SC	500	74-70-68=212
T3	John Pak	Scotch Plains, NJ	400	71-74-68=213
T3	Vincent Norrman	, Sweden	400	73-68-72=213
T5	Ludvig Aberg	, Sweden	400	75-74-65=214