Benching is often a source of shoulder irritation since the most mechanically advantageous - and probably most intuitive - position for the bar to be in at the bottom is directly above the GH. This eliminates a moment arm between the elbow and the shoulder, but it also makes it much more likely you'll trap soft tissue between the humeral head and the bony processes of the scapula. Add in subsequent movement in this compressed state and you've got a recipe for something akin to a sawing action. Dropping the elbows down toward your hip bones and bringing the bar down to a position near the bottom of your sternum results in a less efficient, non-vertical bar path and a moment arm you'd rather not have in an ideal world, but creates much more room in the shoulder for the soft tissues to exist in. Competitive lifters may intentionally eschew doing this in order to put a few more pounds on the bar, but for the purposes of general strength training this nod toward safety, health, and longevity makes good sense.
All that said, John - it's great that you've found a way to get over head safely and comfortably!