BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — The Texas A&M men’s golf team swept the Southeastern Conference weekly honors with junior Sam Bennett being named Golfer of the Week and freshman Daniel Rodrigues taking the Freshman of the Week award, the league office announced Wednesday.
Bennett, from Madisonville, Texas, earned the top honor after winning the Cabo Collegiate last week at the TPC San Antonio, which also serves as the home of the annual Valero Texas Open. With the victory, Bennett received a PGA Tour exemption to compete at the Valero Texas Open, which will be contested March 29-April 4.Bennett finished the Cabo at 5-under par with rounds of 74-70-67 to earn a one-stroke victory over Garett Reband of Oklahoma. Bennett’s final round of 5-under 67 was punctuated with a birdie on the 17th hole that provided the margin of victory. It was the first victory of Bennett’s collegiate career.
Rodrigues, from Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, took freshman honors after providing counting scores in the second and third round of the Cabo Collegiate, including a 2-under 70 on the final day. For the tournament, Rodrigues tied for 29th with rounds of 79-73-70. Rodrigues excelled on the par 5s at the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course as he was five-under on the holes, which was fifth-best among the 88 players.
The strong play by Bennett and Rodrigues helped the Aggies place third at the Cabo Collegiate and tally head-to-head wins over nine teams ranked in the Golfstat.com top 20, including No. 1 Arizona, No. 8 Oklahoma State and No. 10 Texas.
Complete SEC Weekly Honors
Men’s Golfer of the Week:
Sam Bennett, Texas A&M
Junior
Madisonville, Texas
- Earned an exemption to the Valero Texas Open by winning the Cabo Collegiate, his first victory as a collegian
- Closed with a 5-under 67 to win the Cabo Collegiate by a stroke over Oklahoma’s Garett Reband
- For the tournament, Bennett was 5-under with rounds of 74-70-67
- Posted a head-to-head win over 15 players ranked in the Golfstat.com top 100
- Helped the No. 15 Aggies place third and tally head-to-head wins over nine teams ranked in the Golfstat.com top 20, including No. 1 Arizona, No. 8 Oklahoma State and No. 10 Texas.
Men’s Freshman of the Week
Daniel Rodrigues, Texas A&M
Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
- Posted counting scores in the second and third rounds of the Cabo Collegiate, helping the Aggies place third and tally head-to-head wins over nine teams ranked in the Golfstat.com top 20, including No. 1 Arizona, No. 8 Oklahoma State and No. 10 Texas.
- Tied for 29th at 5-over par with rounds of 79-73-70.
- Fired a 2-under par 70 in the final round to help the Aggies post a 11-under 277, which was the third-lowest round of the tournament.
- Was 5-under par on Par 5s on the TPC San Antonio Oaks Course, which tied for fifth-best among the 88 players.
Women’s Golfer of the Week:
Lois Kaye Go, South Carolina
Senior
- Lois Kaye Go earned the best finish of her collegiate career when she finished second at the Gamecock Intercollegiate.
- Go notched a 4-under 212 as she stayed in the hunt for the individual win throughout the tournament.
- Her back-to-back 3-under 69 scores in the first two rounds pushed the Gamecocks to the top of the leaderboard through two rounds.
- This marks the seventh top-5 finish for Go as a Gamecock, tying her for seventh in program history.
Women’s Newcomer of the Week
Ingrid Lindblad, LSU
Sophomore
T3 * -2, 214 * Gamecock Intercollegiate
- Earned her 11th and 12th rounds of the season at par or under with a 2-under 70 in the first round and a -1 71 in the second round
- It was her third Top-5 finish and sixth Top-10 finish of the season
- Was in the hunt for the individual title going into the final round
Women’s Freshman Golfer of the Week:
Paula Kirner, South Carolina
- Kirner opened the Gamecock Intercollegiate with the best round of her collegiate career, carding a 2-under 70.
- Kirner had a rough start in her second round, but finished strong with birdies on two of her final four holes to finish the second round tied for 26th place before notching an even par 72 in the final round to finish with a 3-over 219 and a tie for 20th place.
- Both her 219 and 20th place finish are career bests for Kirner.