Patrick Rodgers of Stanford capped a memorable weekend by being selected as recipient of the Ben Hogan Award, given yearly to the best player in college and amateur golf over the previous 12 months.
The 21-year-old Rodgers, a junior from Avon, Ind., who will turn pro after the NCAA Championships later this month, has won six times this season for the Cardinal and posted a 5-1-2 record while last year playing for the United States in the Palmer Cup and the Walker Cup.
“To be linked with Mr. Hogan, he’s such an iconic figure, not just in golf, but in sports,” said Rodgers, who also was nominated for the award as a freshman, and received the prize at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
“He symbolizes what it means to work hard and have a disciplined approach, to really be the ultimate professional. It’s such an honor to come back here for the second time because this is the most prestigious award in collegiate and amateur golf.”
Rodgers, No. 1 in the college and amateur rankings, tied Tiger Woods’ school record of 11 career victories on Saturday while leading the Cardinal to victory in an NCAA Regional at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.
The other two finalists for the award were senior Cameron Wilson, Rodgers’ Stanford teammate, and junior Ollie Schniederjans of Georgia Tech.
Past winners of the Ben Hogan Award, which was first presented in 1990, include Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State, Bill Haas of Wake Forest, Ryan Moore of UNLV, Matt Every of Florida, Chris Kirk of Georgia, Rickie Fowler of Oklahoma State, Kyle Stanley of Clemson, Rickey Barnes of Arizona, Mark Wilson of North Carolina and Peter Uihlein of Oklahoma State.
Rodgers is the third straight winner from the Pacific12 Conference, following Patrick Cantlay of UCLA in 2012 and Chris Williams of Washington last year.
By winning the award, Rodgers was presented with an exemption into the PGA Tour’s 2015 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, and Stanford was awarded a $25,000 grant for its men’s golf scholarship program.
