Three
AJGA alumni have been named finalists for the 2012 Ben Hogan Award, which is
presented annually to the top men's NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA
college golfer. Patrick Cantlay (sophomore,
UCLA), Patrick Rodgers (freshman,
Stanford) and Jordan Spieth
(freshman, Texas) combined for 10 national junior golf victories and six nods
to the Rolex Junior All-America First Team during their AJGA careers.
The
trio competed against each other at two AJGA events. At the 2010
HP Boys Championship at Carlton Woods
, Spieth led the way with a runner-up
finish, while all three players finished in the top 10 at the 2009
PING Invitational
.
For the 17th time in the last 18 years, an AJGA alum
will receive the Ben Hogan Award when the winner is announced at the banquet on May
21 at Colonial Country Club in Fort
Worth, Texas.
Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay
carded 10 top-10 finishes in 19 AJGA tournaments, including a win at the 2008 ClubCorp
Mission Hills Desert Junior. He was a first-team Rolex Junior All-American in
2008 and 2009, and is a Hogan Award finalist for the second straight year.
Patrick Rodgers
In
addition to being a two-time Rolex Junior All-American, Rodgers also earned HP
Scholastic Junior All-America honors twice during his AJGA career. He recorded
a 3-1-0 record for the East Wyndham Cup Team in 2010, and also won the 2010
Western Junior.
In
2010, Rodgers wrote weekly
blog entries
for Golfweek.com.
Jordan Spieth
Spieth
posted 16 consecutive top 10s to finish an AJGA career that included five
victories. He won the U.S. Junior Amateur twice (2009, 2011), was the 2009
Rolex Junior Player of the Year and was a three-time first-team Rolex Junior
All-American.
Watch
the video
recap
from Spieths AJGA career-ending win at the 2011 HP Boys Championship
at Carlton Woods.