FORT WORTH, Texas (May 21, 2012) – Baird Private Wealth Management, in association with Colonial Country Club, The Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), tonight honored UCLA sophomore Patrick Cantlay with the 2012 The Ben Hogan Award at a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club.
The most prestigious award in men’s college golf, The Ben Hogan Award is voted upon by an esteemed selection committee and presented annually to the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the past 12-month period.
Cantlay becomes the first sophomore ever crowned. At 20 years, two months and four days, he is the second youngest winner in the award’s history, behind only Oklahoma State freshman Rickie Fowler (19 years, five months, five days) in 2008.
Cantlay, the world’s number one ranked amateur according to the World Amateur Golf Rankings and the Scratch Players World Amateur Rankings, was a finalist for the award for the second straight season. Last month, the native of Los Alamitos, Calif., made the cut at the 2012 Masters and won the Silver Cup for finishing as the low amateur (T-47th). He also was the low amateur at the 2011 U.S. Open after tying for 21st place.
The runner up at the 2011 U.S. Amateur Championship at Erin Hills, Cantlay played on the U.S. Walker Cup team last summer and earned the McCormack Medal honoring the world’s top amateur. This summer, he has exemptions to play in the U.S. Open and the Open Championship. He competed in the PGA TOUR’s Northern Trust Open on a sponsor’s exemption in February.
During the collegiate season, the first-team All-Pac-12 selection has secured four top-10 individual finishes for the Bruins, including a pair of runner-up showings. He tied for 20th place at the NCAA Bowling Green Regional over the weekend and carries a season stroke average of 71.28.
At the ceremony, Cantlay received an exemption into the PGA TOUR’s 2013 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. In addition, UCLA was presented with a $20,000 grant to its men’s golf scholarship program.
The other finalists were Stanford freshman Patrick Rodgers and Texas freshman Jordan Spieth. Their respective schools each received $10,000 grants.
Since that time, the previous winners included: D.J. Trahan (Clemson, 2002), Ricky Barnes (Arizona, 2003), Hunter Mahan (Oklahoma State, 2003), Bill Haas (Wake Forest, 2004), Ryan Moore (UNLV, 2005), Matt Every (Florida, 2006), Chris Kirk (Georgia, 2007), Rickie Fowler (Oklahoma State, 2008), Kyle Stanley (Clemson, 2009), Nick Taylor (Washington, 2010) and Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State, 2011).
To find the latest information on The Ben Hogan Award, its candidates and its previous winners, visit www.TheBenHoganAward.org, like www.Facebook.com/BenHoganAward and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter.
Patrick Cantlay was the first player named as a finalist multiple years since Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler (2008, 2009). The only other golfer named twice since the paring down of three finalists in 2005 was Georgia’s Chris Kirk (2006, 2007).
Including Cantlay, Rickie Fowler and Chris Kirk, seven players have now been named finalists multiple times, and all ultimately won The Ben Hogan Awards during their careers. Bill Haas (2002, 2003, 2004), Ryan Moore (2003, 2005), Hunter Mahan (2002, 2003) and D.J. Trahan (2002, 2003) each were finalists at least twice in years when the finalist list included more than three individuals.
Cantlay is the first The Ben Hogan Award winner from UCLA.
Cantlay is the second winner from the Pac-12 Conference in the past three years, joining Washington’s Nick Taylor (2010). The only other winner from the league is Ricky Barnes (Arizona, 2003).
Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, capital markets, private equity and asset management firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Established in 1919, Baird has more than 2,600 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients. Baird oversees and manages client assets of nearly $82 billion. Committed to being a great place to work, Baird ranked number 21 on FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2012 – its ninth consecutive year on the list. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird’s Web site at www.rwbaird.com.