Saying he is 52 feet to the hole in front of the green so he will have to get it up and down from there to play on the weekend

needs to get up and down here. Cmon stick it tight Sam. Hopefully a good lie.

what a shot! 18 inches for par

He finished at 2 under par and made the cut

What a clutch 3rd shot. Sam getting paid this weekend.

he survives. Goes off early tomorrow - needs to go for it now. Four under tomorrow and four under on Sunday to make some cash

Bennett is -4 through 15. Currently T13 at -6.

Really nice -4 round from Sam today. He's improved every round.

MAROON said:

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he survives. Goes off early tomorrow - needs to go for it now. Four under tomorrow and four under on Sunday to make some cash

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Called it

-4 today big jump

My general impression has been that Sam has a great short game but needs to gain distance off the tee to make it on the tour. His stats don't necessarily bear that up, though.

Below are his Strokes Gained through the three rounds this week, and I think they generally reflect his season stats (I'm too lazy to make three more clicks to get there). He's actually gained nearly two strokes off the tee, and lost two on the putting green, the inverse of what I would have expected. He has, indeed, done well with his short game, so I guess that part of the conventional wisdom holds up.

His driving distance rank is #60, roughly middle of the pack for this tournament. Yes, he could use another 10-15 yards off the tee...but who couldn't?

SG: Off The Tee. 1.8
SG: Approach to Green. 1.6
SG: Around The Green. 2.6
SG: Putting. -2.0
SG: Tee to Green. 5.9
SG: Total 4.0

Don't need to be long off the tee at Wyndham but there are plenty of courses where driving distance prevails.

I don't care what his putting stats say, outside of 5 feet has been poor this year and his weakness.

That's what those stats show - he has putted poorly, losing two strokes to the field with that area of his game.

With strokes gained, negative numbers are bad. It's a great system, but not necessarily intuitive…

His lag putting has been as issue. His driving is fine - not elite but above average. But he had 3 3 putts in the last 2 days that most pros wouldn't have had. Average putting and he is probably top 15 going into final round. He has said he needs to clean that up and when he does I think he becomes a consistent top 75 player on tour which makes you A LOT of money. A 48 foot putt and most pros leave themselves a 4-5 footer at most on average. Sam had one yesterday that was like 12 feet and he wound up with a 3 putt. That should be the exception and right now for him it is almost the norm. I think he figures it out and does well but hopeful it doesn't cost him his opportunity on the big tour.

Gotcha. Sorry, I was thinking negative numbers good.

NM

Just resumed play on The Golf channel

AgLA06 said:

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I don't care what his putting stats say, outside of 5 feet has been poor this year and his weakness.

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Dusty Baker school huh

The Milkman said:

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AgLA06 said:

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I don't care what his putting stats say, outside of 5 feet has been poor this year and his weakness.

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Dusty Baker school huh

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Reading the thread is your friend.

Sam finished T38 with 38K payday. Haven't you ever wondered if a payout like that covers a pro's weekly expenses? Probably a lot of range in costs from player to player.

snowaggie said:

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Sam finished T38 with 38K payday. Haven't you ever wondered if a payout like that covers a pro's weekly expenses? Probably a lot of range in costs from player to player.

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I found this article interesting. Probably apropos for Bennett

https://www.gutsygolf.com/how-much-does-it-cost-to-play-professional-golf/

Not to mention being on the PGAT means way more sponsorship dollars and probably better avenues to save some money for the players.

After securing equipment deals, I'd look to be sponsored by hotels and rent a car companies. Ha

snowaggie said:

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Sam finished T38 with 38K payday. Haven't you ever wondered if a payout like that covers a pro's weekly expenses? Probably a lot of range in costs from player to player.

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A lot of factors at play but you would THINK a payday like that would cover their week. It's been several years but for a while there had some non-public access at the SHO and behind the scenes folks who were in the golf industry had insight to share whenever we talked about this stuff. Here's what I'd see hitting them:

-taxes...I'm sure it might be less but call it 40% in taxes....maybe 50% depending on tax treatment they get by being in different states (i.e. state income tax impact???). For simple math here lets say 50%. So you're out $19k with $19k leftover

-flights....you flying United (cheaper) or private (most expensive) or splitting private with someone (certainly pricey side)..or hitching a ride with someone who has private lined up already (FREE!!!). The vast majority fly commerical but PGAT has deal with airlines so the guys have some flexibility and don't get hammered with what you and I would for fully refundable tickets, changing flights, etc. Call it $500 so you're at $18.5k

-accomodations...do they stay at hotel? rent a house? get roommate(s)? We can all say hotels and run them $150 per night so that would be 6 nights or $900. Call it $1k. In our neighborhood some folks would rent their house out to players and get well north of $2500 for the week. For this discussion, just go with the hotel so they are left with $17.5k

-cars....PGAT will have loaner vehicles for them so free

-meals....depends on the pro but they offer a lot of food at the venue so lunches are covered and most breakfasts too. Dinners depends on eating out or cooking yourself or what special requirements they have. Say 6 dinners and 3 breakfasts and just ballpark it at $500 now down to $17k

-caddy....this is where it gets tricky. Most are on a % and only the guys who caddy for big names get a salary (typically with some sort of bonus). I've heard the % ranges from 3-5% regular but can be 8% or so depending on the pro. It ain't much b/c a the majority of caddies split hotel rooms to save costs. Just to be conservative call it 10% so now down to $15.7k

-then miscellaneous costs...do you bring family/friends in and pay for them? just say $700

That's just for that week. What about the stuff away from events such as coaches, health care, other benefits PGAT offers (i.e. 401k...I know they have something but not sure if you have to contribute). So these types of things technically impact bottom line on what they make.

But for sake of this exercise that leaves you at $15k. Not bad at all. Granted the traveling can be a grind for a lot of the players. And sponsors will give you enough to have your basics covered at home and likely a good chunk of travel as well.

I agree with most of your math, but I think caddies get a percentage of Gross, not net.

Im guessing he does not have enough "theoretical points" to get a card for next year?

nhamp07 said:

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Im guessing he does not have enough "theoretical points" to get a card for next year?

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Top 125 gets to play in Tour events next year. 126-150 gets conditional status.

If I did my calculations correct, Bennett earned 112.22 pts for 8 events (Masters not included since he played as an amateur).

Currently, the 125th ranked player has 292.940 pts. The 150th player has 199.473.

I believe someone said that he has unlimited sponsor exemptions next season. If so, a full season of solid play should get him in the top 125.

He also has a pass to the Q-school finals, where the top 5 finishers earn their card.

trip98 said:

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snowaggie said:

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Sam finished T38 with 38K payday. Haven't you ever wondered if a payout like that covers a pro's weekly expenses? Probably a lot of range in costs from player to player.

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A lot of factors at play but you would THINK a payday like that would cover their week. It's been several years but for a while there had some non-public access at the SHO and behind the scenes folks who were in the golf industry had insight to share whenever we talked about this stuff. Here's what I'd see hitting them:

-taxes...I'm sure it might be less but call it 40% in taxes....maybe 50% depending on tax treatment they get by being in different states (i.e. state income tax impact???). For simple math here lets say 50%. So you're out $19k with $19k leftover

-flights....you flying United (cheaper) or private (most expensive) or splitting private with someone (certainly pricey side)..or hitching a ride with someone who has private lined up already (FREE!!!). The vast majority fly commerical but PGAT has deal with airlines so the guys have some flexibility and don't get hammered with what you and I would for fully refundable tickets, changing flights, etc. Call it $500 so you're at $18.5k

-accomodations...do they stay at hotel? rent a house? get roommate(s)? We can all say hotels and run them $150 per night so that would be 6 nights or $900. Call it $1k. In our neighborhood some folks would rent their house out to players and get well north of $2500 for the week. For this discussion, just go with the hotel so they are left with $17.5k

-cars....PGAT will have loaner vehicles for them so free

-meals....depends on the pro but they offer a lot of food at the venue so lunches are covered and most breakfasts too. Dinners depends on eating out or cooking yourself or what special requirements they have. Say 6 dinners and 3 breakfasts and just ballpark it at $500 now down to $17k

-caddy....this is where it gets tricky. Most are on a % and only the guys who caddy for big names get a salary (typically with some sort of bonus). I've heard the % ranges from 3-5% regular but can be 8% or so depending on the pro. It ain't much b/c a the majority of caddies split hotel rooms to save costs. Just to be conservative call it 10% so now down to $15.7k

-then miscellaneous costs...do you bring family/friends in and pay for them? just say $700

That's just for that week. What about the stuff away from events such as coaches, health care, other benefits PGAT offers (i.e. 401k...I know they have something but not sure if you have to contribute). So these types of things technically impact bottom line on what they make.

But for sake of this exercise that leaves you at $15k. Not bad at all. Granted the traveling can be a grind for a lot of the players. And sponsors will give you enough to have your basics covered at home and likely a good chunk of travel as well.

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Prize money is taxed as regular income.

Assuming he makes around $400,000 in total income his Fed tax rate is closer to 27%

The total unknown is sponsorship money.

Seven Costanza said:

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I believe someone said that he has unlimited sponsor exemptions next season. If so, a full season of solid play should get him in the top 125.

He also has a pass to the Q-school finals, where the top 5 finishers earn their card.

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Thing is I really doubt he will get as many exemptions next year as he did this. He won't be the "reining" US Amateur champ at that point. If he can get a q school finals card, that would be ideal, but if not I think KFT is his best option.

What's the entry fee for a pro tournament? I'm pretty sure they have to pay one. Also, you need to account for the weeks they miss the cut. If he misses half his cuts, then there are a lot of travel and other expenses that have to come out of the winnings from the good weeks.