Twenty-seven golfers named to The Ben Hogan Award Watch List
Seventeen make prestigious list for the first time
FORT WORTH, Texas (Jan. 30, 2013) – Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts, in conjunction with Colonial Country Club, The Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America, is pleased to announce the list of 27 collegiate golfers named to the 2013 The Ben Hogan Award Watch List. The list includes natives of nine different countries, representatives of 20 universities and 17 golfers appearing on the Watch List for the first time.
The most prestigious award in men’s college golf, The Ben Hogan Award is presented annually to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the past 12-month period. The Ben Hogan Award Selection Committee represents leaders in amateur and collegiate golf.
The 2013 The Ben Hogan Award Watch List includes, in alphabetical order:
Daniel Berger (Florida State, So.), Julien Brun (TCU, So.), Albin Choi (NC State, Jr.), Corey Conners (Kent State, Jr.), Scott Fernandez (Iowa State, So.), Steven Fox (Chattanooga, Sr.), Ben Geyer (St. Mary’s, Sr.), Talor Gooch (Oklahoma State, Jr.), Brandon Hagy (California, Jr.), Max Homa (California, Sr.), Michael Kim (California, So.), Jace Long (Missouri, Sr.), Tyler McCumber (Florida, Sr.), Cheng-Tsung Pan (Washington, So.), Kevin Penner (UNLV, Sr.), Thomas Pieters (Illinois, Jr.), Patrick Rodgers (Stanford, So.), Trevor Simsby (Washington, Jr.), Brandon Stone (Texas, Fr.), Julian Suri (Duke, Sr.), Ben Taylor (Nova Southeastern, Jr.), Justin Thomas (Alabama, So.), T.J. Vogel (Florida, Sr.), Michael Weaver (California, Jr.), Pontus Widegren (UCLA, Sr.), Chris Williams (Washington, Sr.) and Bobby Wyatt (Alabama, Jr.).
A list of 10 semifinalists, which could include individuals not on the current list, will be unveiled on Thursday, April 18. On Wednesday, May 8, that group will be pared down to three finalists. The winner will be crowned at a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club on Monday, May 20, prior to the start of the PGA TOUR’s Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
The award, which was first issued in 1990 and included academic achievement in its original list of standards, revised its criteria for the 2001-02 collegiate season to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur collegiate golfer.
Since that time, the winners have been: D.J. Trahan (Clemson, 2002), Ricky Barnes (Arizona, 2003), Hunter Mahan (Oklahoma State, 2003), Bill Haas (Wake Forest, 2004), Ryan Moore (UNLV, 2005), Matt Every (Florida, 2006), Chris Kirk (Georgia, 2007), Rickie Fowler (Oklahoma State, 2008), Kyle Stanley (Clemson, 2009), Nick Taylor (Washington, 2010), Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State, 2011) and Patrick Cantlay (UCLA, 2012).
To find the latest information on The Ben Hogan Award, its candidates and its previous winners, visit the official web site www.TheBenHoganAward.org and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter.
About the Candidates
• The Ben Hogan Award Watch List includes 10 seniors, nine juniors, seven sophomores and one freshman.
• Just 10 of the individuals have been named to previous Watch Lists, including eight from the 2012 list.
• Only one freshman made the list this year after five appeared on the list last year.
• In the collegiate rankings, the list includes 9 of the top 10 and 18 of the top 20 players in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings. It also contains the top 10 and 19 of the top 25 in the Golfstat rankings.
• Among amateur rankings, the list boasts 4 of the top 5 and 12 of the top 20 in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking. It also features 5 of the top 7 and 12 of the top 20 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
• A total of 20 universities are represented. Four schools–California (4), Washington (3), Alabama (2) and Florida (2)–have multiple nominees.
• The 27 players hail from 10 different states and eight foreign countries (Belgium, England, France, Sweden, South Africa, Canada, Spain and Taiwan). The states represented include: Alabama, California, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Washington.
• Ten of the 18 American-born players are from either California (6) or Florida (4).
• The four members of the California Golden Bears match the most ever on the Watch List by one school. Oklahoma State also had four make the list in 2010.
• One-third (9 of the 27) of the Watch List is comprised of athletes from the Pac-12 Conference. The other leagues with multiple student-athletes on the Watch List include: SEC (5), Big 12 (4) and ACC (3). In all, 10 leagues are represented.
• Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers was one of the three Hogan Award finalists in 2012. A total of five semifinalists from 2012 appear on the Watch List: Rodgers, Julien Brun, Cheng-Tsung Pan, Justin Thomas and Chris Williams.
• This is the eighth consecutive year that Stanford has had a player named to the Watch List, the longest active streak by any school. The next longest active streaks are Alabama (6) and Illinois (4).
• Three schools—Iowa State, Nova Southeastern and St. Mary’s—have a Watch List member for the first time ever.
• Ben Taylor of Division II Nova Southeastern is the lone non-Division I golfer on the list.
2013 Watch List Candidates
Daniel Berger, Florida State, So., Jupiter, Fla.
Julien Brun, TCU, So., Antibes, France
Albin Choi, NC State, Jr., Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Corey Conners, Kent State, Jr., Listowel, Ontario, Canada
Scott Fernandez, Iowa State, So., Grenada, Spain
Steven Fox, Chattanooga, Sr., Hendersonville, Tenn.
Ben Geyer, St. Mary’s, Sr., Arbuckle, Calif.
Talor Gooch, Oklahoma State, Jr., Midwest City, Okla.
Brandon Hagy, California, Jr., Westlake Village, Calif.
Max Homa, California, Sr., Valencia, Calif.
Michael Kim, California, So., Del Mar, Calif.
Jace Long, Missouri, Sr., Dixon, Mo.
Tyler McCumber, Florida, Sr., Ponte Vedra, Fla.
Cheng-Tsung Pan, Washington, So., Miaoli County, Taiwan
Kevin Penner, UNLV, Sr., Sammamish, Wash.
Thomas Pieters, Illinois, Jr., Nijlen, Belgium
Patrick Rodgers, Stanford, So., Avon, Ind.
Trevor Simsby, Washington, Jr., Carlsbad, Calif.
Brandon Stone, Texas, Fr., Pretoria, South Africa
Julian Suri, Duke, Sr., St. Augustine, Fla.
Ben Taylor, Nova Southeastern, Jr., Leatherhead, England
Justin Thomas, Alabama, So., Goshen, Ky.
T.J. Vogel, Florida, Sr., Cooper City, Fla.
Michael Weaver, California, Jr., Fresno, Calif.
Pontus Widegren, UCLA, Sr., Danderyd, Sweden
Chris Williams, Washington, Sr., Moscow, Idaho
Bobby Wyatt, Alabama, Jr., Mobile, Ala.