When it comes to the seven amateurs pitching at Augusta National next week, there’s no shortage of star power.
There are numerous USGA champions and one NCAA champion. Winners of prestigious amateur events from around the world. Some are entering the famous Masters tournament for the first time, which everyone hopes will be a long trek down Magnolia Lane every April.
The Seven Ams are fighting for the title of Low Amateur. If they make the 36 hole cut, they’re fighting for the Silver Cup. An amateur has never won the Masters, but the tournament has plenty of history with ams including the famous Crow’s Nest, the third floor living area of the Augusta National Clubhouse and the Monday night amateur dinner.
Here’s a look at the seven amateurs competing at the 2023 Masters.
Sam Bennett
Sam Bennett holds the Havemeyer trophy after winning the 2022 US Amateur at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. (Grant Halverson/USGA)
The 22-year-old from Madisonville, Texas, won the US Amateur last summer at The Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey, beating Ben Carr by 1. Bennett is a fifth-year senior at Texas A&M, where he was a medalist at the John Burns Collegiate and achieved five top 20 finishes in nine starts this season. He was the 2022 SEC Golfer of the Year and represented the United States on the 2022 Arnold Palmer Cup team.
Ben Carr
Ben Carr plays his tee shot on hole ten during the final game at US Amateur 2022 at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, New Jersey. (Grant Halverson/USGA)
Carr reached the US Amateur finals in New Jersey last summer, falling to Bennett on the last hole. The 22-year-old from Columbus, Georgia has finished in the top 15 in six of his seven starts for Georgia Southern this year, including a win at the Schenkel Invitational and a second-place finish at the Colleton River Collegiate.
Harrison Crowe
Harrison Crowe of Australia tees off on the 9th hole during day three of the World Amateur Team Golf Championships 2022 – Eisenhower Trophy Competition at Golf de Saint-Nom-La-Breteche on September 2, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
The 21-year-old Australian won the 2022 Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Amata Spring Country Club in Thailand, beating China’s Bo Jin by one punch. He became the third champion from Australia in the history of the event, joining Antonio Murdaca and Curtis Luck. This year he finished T-5 in the Australian Amateurs and finished second in the New South Wales Amateurs.
Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira
Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira lifts the Latin American Amateur Championship on the beach alongside The Open Trophy, the Masters Trophy and the US Open Trophy after the final round of the 2023 Latin American Amateur Championship to be played at the Grand Reserve Golf Club in Puerto Rico Sunday, January 15, 2023. (Photo: LAAC)
The 23-year-old Arkansas senior started his year great, winning the Latin American amateur championship to redeem his ticket to Augusta National. He broke a tournament record, finishing with 23 under par. He also went 4-0-0 representing the international team at the Arnold Palmer Cup in Switzerland. For the Razorbacks, he has a win at the Hal Williams Collegiate and six top-20 finishes in eight starts.
Matthew McClean
Matthew McClean holds up the trophy after winning the 2022 US Mid-Amateur at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin. (Photo: Steven Gibbons/USGA)
McClean, a 29-year-old from Belfast, Northern Ireland, won the 2022 US Mid-Amateur at Erin Hills with a 3-1 win over Hugh Foley. He’s an optometrist when he’s not playing golf. Last year he also finished second at the North of Ireland and the Irish Amateur Open. He also reached the round of 16 at the Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes in England.
Aldrich Potgieter
Aldrich Potgieter of South Africa after winning the R&A Amateur Championship during the final of day six of the R&A Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes on June 18, 2022 in Lytham St Annes, England. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
The 18-year-old Potgieter from South Africa won the 2022 Amateur Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes in England with a 3-and-2 win over Sam Bairstow. He became the second youngest ever to win the championship. He also competed in the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews. In February he won the African Amateur Stroke Play Championship in South Africa before winning the Junior Invitational in Sage Valley, South Carolina in March.
Gordon Sargent
Gordon Sargent won The Hayt. (Photo: Vanderbilt Men’s Golf)
Sargent, No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings for men’s collegiate golf, became the first freshman to win the NCAA singles championship since 2007 when he picked up the trophy at Grayhawk Golf Club last year. He rose to No. 1 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking for the first time in February and is the first amateur to receive a special invitation to the Masters since Aaron Baddeley in 2000. The runner-up at Vanderbilt has two wins and eight top-10 finishes from eight starts this season.
Source : sports.yahoo.com