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Sep 21, 2023

Sam Bennett tattoo: Meaning behind message on The Masters golfer's arm

Sam Bennett has words from his late father tattooed on his left arm as he plays

Sam Bennett has words from his late father tattooed on his left arm as he plays during the second round of the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 7, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia.

Texas A&M's Sam Bennett, who finds himself in third place after Friday's second round of The Masters, is trying to make history in Augusta, and he's doing so with a constant reminder from his father tattooed on his left wrist.

"Don't wait to do something." - Pops 6/12/2020

When Bennett, who is trying to become the first amateur with a Top 10 finish at The Masters since 1962, was a star golfer at Madisonville High School, about a 45-minute drive from College Station, his father Mark was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's at just 45 years old. Mark faded fast and died in June 2021. Before his death, Mark passed along the five-word message to his son.

In a Golf Channel segment this week, Sam and his mother Stacy retold the story of that 2020 afternoon when Mark gave Sam the advice while mother and son were working in the yard.

"When he said that, Sam just said, 'Mom do you think you could get him to write that down?," Stacy said on the Golf Channel.

It took Mark about 15 minutes to write the message as his wife and son helped him put it together.

"That's the last thing he ever wrote, bless his heart, because those motor skills go," Stacy said.

Mark went to a local tattoo parlor and made sure those words would be with him forever. He says he looks at them every time he puts his head down to grip his club.

"For the longest, I lived my life in fear just seeing what he went through," Sam said. "To me, it just means don't be scared in anything you do."

Bennett's 4-under 68 on Thursday was the lowest opening round by an amateur at The Masters in 22 years and the first bogey-free round for an amateur since 1965. He followed that with another 68 Friday, putting him at 8-under and in third place, four shots behind the leader Brooks Koepka. That mark is the second-best 36-hole score for an amateur behind only Ken Venturi's 9-under in 1956. Bennett also is just the third amateur to post multiple rounds in the 60s at The Masters.

It's been more than 60 years since an amateur has finished in the Top 10 at Augusta and nearly 20 years since one finished in the Top 20 when Ryan Moore tied for 13th in 2005.

Bennett is playing in The Masters after winning the U.S. Amateur in August, becoming the first Aggies player to win the title, which also qualifies him to play in the U.S. Open in June.