It’s no secret that many of the best golfers attended college, with the likes of Jack Nicklaus Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson just some of the golf stars who were present at college before making their way in the professional ranks.
Obviously, there are plenty of events to be won in college, with one of the most prestigious being the Ben Hogan Award. It’s an accolade which is given to the best college golfer in the United States.
Introduced in 1990, the award was initially given to a player exhibiting excellence in academia, as well as college golf. In 2001, Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), who select the winner, revised the criteria to accurately reflect Tom Harmon’s original idea for the Ben Hogan Award.
Harmon was the creator of the award and a long-time friend of Hogan’s. He was also a former American Footballer and winner of the Heisman Trophy, which is awarded annually to the top player in college football.
The Ben Hogan Award ceremony is staged at Colonial Country Club, also known as Hogan’s Alley, and since 2005 the winner of the Ben Hogan Award is given a place in the field for next year’s championship.
Throughout its history, a number of recognized players have picked up the award and, in this piece, we have taken a look at some of the best, as a near 70 PGA Tour wins have been picked up by previous recipients.
Included in the previous winners are Jon Rahm, who won it back-to-back for the first time in 2015 and 2016. The Spaniard was joined by Ludvig Aberg in 2022 and 2023, as the Swede joined Rahm as the only back-to-back winner of the trophy.
Other notable Ben Hogan Award winners include Ryder Cup players Rickie Fowler, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland and Hunter Mahan, as well as a number of former PGA Tour winners.
Below, we have taken a look at the full list of the Ben Hogan Award winners.
Year | Player | College |
2024 | Jackson Koivun | Auburn |
2023 | Ludvig Aberg | Texas Tech |
2022 | Ludvig Aberg | Texas Tech |
2021 | John Pak | Florida State |
2020 | Sahith Theegala | Pepperdine |
2019 | Viktor Hovland | Oklahoma State |
2018 | Doug Ghim | Texas |
2017 | Maverick McNealy | Stanford |
2016 | Jon Rahm | Arizona State |
2015 | Jon Rahm | Arizona State |
2014 | Patrick Rodgers | Stanford |
2013 | Chris Williams | Washington |
2012 | Patrick Cantlay | UCLA |
2011 | Peter Uihlein |
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