Collin Morikawa of California is one of three finalists for the 2018 Ben Hogan Award, it was announced by the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation, Friends of Golf and the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Morikawa (pictured), a junior from La Canada Flintridge, would be the first Cal player to win the honor and is the Golden Bears’ second finalist, following Michael Kim in 2013. Morikawa was a national semifinalist for the award in 2017.
“Being named a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award is such an amazing honor,” said Morikawa, a two-time All-American. “Being a semifinalist last year and not making it to the finals motivated me to keep improving and working hard, and now it’s paying off.
“The history of the players who have been associated with this award are people who I look up to and I couldn’t be more excited.”
The other finalists are senior Doug Ghim of Texas and junior Braden Thornberry of Mississippi.
Morikawa is first in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and Golfstat College Rankings, No. 2 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings and third in the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings. He is the only golfer inside the top five in all four ranking systems.
This season for the Golden Bears, Morikawa captured the Western Intercollegiate, the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate and Querencia Cabo Collegiate, where he shot 197 to break the school and course 54-hole scoring record. He has four victories in his Cal career.
Morikawa was the 2017 Northeast Amateur champion, finished second in the Sunnehanna Amateur and Trans-Mississippi Amateur last summer, and reached the match play round of 16 at the 2017 U.S. Amateur after tying for eighth in medal play.
Also last summer, Morikawa posted 4-0-0 record to help the United States team win the 2017 Walker Cup over Great Britain & Ireland, and was 2-2 as the U.S. beat Team Europe in the 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup.
Ghim captured the Big 12 Conference Championship and the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate for Texas this season and is listed among the top 10 in all four major ranking systems, including No. 1 in the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings. He captured the 2017 Pacific Coast Amateur and was second in the U.S. Amateur in addition to going a combined 8-0-0 in the Walker Cup and Palmer Cup.
Thornberry, the 2017 NCAA individual champion, has won the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate, Franklin American Mortgage Intercollegiate, Hootie at Bulls Bay and Old Waverly Collegiate Championship this season for Ole Miss. He is ranked second in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking, and he tied for fourth in the PGA Tour’s 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic in 2017, the highest finish by an amateur at the event since 1965. He also won the 2017 Sunnehanna Amateur.
The Ben Hogan Award is given annually to the top men’s college golfer, taking into account all college and amateur competitions over the previous 12 months.
The three finalists will attend a black-tie dinner at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, May 21, where the winner will be crowned. The recipient will receive an exemption into the PGA Tour’s 2019 Fort Worth Invitational at Colonial.
