Viktor Hovland receives Ben Hogan Award as best college golfer

Viktor Hovland received the Ben Hogan Award at Colonial C.C. on Monday night.

The Oklahoma State junior beat Cowboys teammate Matthew Wolff and California's Collin Morikawa for the prize, which is given to the nation's best collegiate golfer. (The award used to be primarily academic based, but its criteria changed in 2002.) Though Wolff has received more media attention, the honor encapsulates all amateur competitions, which made Hovland the easy choice.

The 21-year-old out of Norway is currently No. 1 in the world amateur rankings, a standing spurred by winning the 2018 U.S. Amateur at Pebble Beach. That victory earned an invite to Augusta National this past spring, where Hovland finished as the Masters Low Am. He also captured three collegiate events this season, and finished second at last year’s European Am.

Recent winners of the award include Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay and Maverick McNealy. Hovland joins Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler, and Peter Uihlein as OSU products to receive the Hogan. Hovland and Wolff will be looking to defend their NCAA title this week at the Blessing Club in Fayetteville, Ark. The tournament begins on May 24.

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