The spring season may have been cut short because of COVID-19, but the Annika Award presented by Stifel still plans to honor the player of the year in Division I women’s golf.
Voting for the Annika Award will run April 7-21 and is open to all Division I players and coaches, as well as members of the media. The award will be given out in late May.
“We feel it is important during this difficult time to still honor the nation’s top players as voted on by their peers, coaches and the media,” said Annika Sorenstam, for whom the Annika Award is named. “The chosen players always will be an Annika or Haskins Award (given to men’s player of the year) winner, and we can’t let the unexpectedly rapid conclusion to the college golf season stop us from acknowledging achievements that will last a lifetime.”
Past winners of the Annika Award include Leona Maguire, Alison Lee and Maria Fassi, who won the award for a second time last year.
Here is a look at the 10 players on the final watch list for this year’s Annika Award, as ranked by GolfChannel.com:
1. Natalie Srinivasan, Sr., Furman
Golfstat rank: 1
Wins: 3 (Lady Paladin Invitational, Glass City Invitational, Moon Golf Invitational)
Other results: second, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate; T-16, Cougar Classic; T-26, Landfall Tradition
2. Vivian Hou, Fr., Arizona
Golfstat rank: 3
Wins: None
Other results: second, Annika Intercollegiate; second, Stanford Intercollegiate; second, Arizona Wildcat Invitational; T-3, Hurricane Invitational; T-4, Pac-12 Preview; T-4, East Lake Cup; T-35, Windy City Collegiate
3. Emilia Migliaccio, Jr., Wake Forest
Golfstat rank: 5
Wins: 1 (Darius Rucker Intercollegiate)
Other results: third, Cougar Classic; T-6, Tar Heel Invitational; T-7, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge; T-12, East Lake Cup; T-19, Annika Intercollegiate; T-23, Lady Paladin Invitational
4. Rachel Kuehn, Fr., Wake Forest
Golfstat rank: 2
Wins: 1 (Annika Intercollegiate)
Other results: T-3, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate; T-10, Lady Paladin Invitational; T-13, Tar Heel Invitational; T-17, East Lake Cup
5. Ingrid Lindblad, Fr., LSU
Golfstat rank: 8
Wins: 2 (Magnolia Invitational, Florida State Matchup)
Other results: second, IJGA Collegiate; fourth, Princess Anne Invitational; T-5, Battle at the Beach; T-11, Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate; T-23, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
6. Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Fr., South Carolina
Golfstat rank: 4
Wins: 1 (Windy City Collegiate)
Other results: third, IJGA Collegiate; T-3, Landfall Tradition; T-10, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate; T-15, Annika Intercollegiate; T-32, Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational
7. Emma Spitz, Fr., UCLA
Golfstat rank: 6
Wins: 1 (Bruin/Wave Invitational)
Other results: third, Golfweek Conference Challenge; T-7, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge; T-7, Pac-12 Preview; T-10, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate; T-11, Stanford Intercollegiate; T-32, Annika Intercollegiate
8. Kaitlyn Papp, Jr., Texas
Golfstat rank: 9
Wins: None
Other results: third, Annika Intercollegiate; T-3, Schooner Fall Classic; T-4, White Sands Invitational; eighth, Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invite; 11th, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, T-29, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
9. Pimnipa Panthong, Sr., Kent State
Golfstat rank: 27
Wins: 1 (Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate)
Other results: T-2, Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invite; fourth, Icon Invitational; T-5, Illinois Invitational; sixth, Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational; seventh, UCF Challenge; T-49, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
10. Ana Belac, Sr., Duke
Golfstat rank: 10
Wins: 1 (East Lake Cup)
Other results: T-5, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge; ninth, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate; T-15, Windy City Collegiate; T-26, Annika Intercollegiate