FORT WORTH, Texas – Amateur phenom Patrick Cantlay won’t play a hole this week at Colonial Country Club but he’s already the week’s first champion after being named the Ben Hogan Award winner.
Cantlay, a sophomore at UCLA, was named this year’s winner on Monday, edging Texas’ Jordan Spieth and Stanford’s Patrick Rodgers for the award, which is given based on a player’s performance over the last 12 months in college and amateur events.
Cantlay was the low amateur at this year’s Masters, the runner-up at last year’s U.S. Amateur and is scheduled to lead the Bruins next week at the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
“It’s nice to be linked to all the great accomplishments that Mr. Hogan had in his time. That’s a real honor for me,” said Cantlay, who plans to compete as an amateur at next month’s U.S. Open and the British Open later this month.