Arizona State, Texas, Stanford golfers top list of Hogan Award candidates

Arizona State golfer Jon Rahm, winner of last year’s Ben Hogan Award, joins Texas’ Beau Hossler, Stanford’s Maverick McNealy and others on the 25-player watch list for the 2016 Ben Hogan Award, presented to the top player in college golf.

The watch list, released Wednesday, includes two of last year’s finalists (Rahm and McNealy) and three returning semifinalists (Hossler, Georgia’s Lee McCoy and Alabama’s Robby Shelton).

Rahm seeks to become the first multiple winner in the history of the award, which will be presented May 23 as part of tournament week activities at the Colonial National Invitation Tournament in Fort Worth.

A total of 21 universities are represented on the 25-player watch list, which includes the top five players in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings as well as 13 of the top 20 players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Three schools have multiple golfers on the watch list: Illinois (3), Southern California (2) and Wake Forest (2).

The Wake Forest contingent includes Will Zalatoris, a sophomore from Plano who has accepted a sponsor’s exemption to compete in the 2016 AT&T Byron Nelson in May in Irving. Oklahoma State’s Jordan Niebrugge is one of 10 seniors on the watch list and joins Hossler among representatives from Big 12 schools.

Selection committee members are asked to consider a player’s record in both collegiate and amateur events for the past 12 months when casting ballots for the Hogan Award winner.

Colonial commitments

Among the first wave of golfers to make commitments to participate in the Colonial tournament, slated for May 23-29 in Fort Worth, are defending champion Chris Kirk and Steve Stricker, the 2009 Colonial champ.

Other notables in the mix include Davis Love III, the 2016 U.S. Ryder Cup captain; Colleyville resident Ryan Palmer; John Senden; and Jason Bohn.

Bryson DeChambeau, a former SMU golfer who won the 2015 U.S. Amateur and 2015 NCAA individual championship, has accepted a sponsor’s exemption to join the field.

This story was originally published February 10, 2016 at 2:12 PM with the headline "Arizona State, Texas, Stanford golfers top list of Hogan Award candidates."