FORT WORTH, Texas – Cal sophomore Colin Morikawa has been named to the 2017 Ben Hogan Award watch list in a joint announcement made Wednesday by Colonial Country Club, the Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). The Ben Hogan Award presented by Konica Minolta is issued annually to the top men's Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer talking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the past 12-month period beginning with the 2016 NCAA Championships and running through the 2017 NCAA Regionals.

"This is an amazing honor to be named to the Ben Hogan Award watch list," Morikawa said. "To know that what I've been practicing and doing on and off the course is being recognized is great, but it definitely does not stop here. This honor is one of the biggest awards in amateur golf and to be a part of it means a lot. It will push me to new goals this year and in the years to come."

Morikawa is currently the sixth-ranked amateur in the world according to the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking while he is No. 16 in the men's World Amateur Golf Ranking.

Morikawa became the first Cal player to earn GCAA Freshman All-American honors during his 2015-16 rookie season that ended with a tied for 10th place finish at the NCAA Championships that equaled the best by a freshman at the event. His long list of 2015-16 accomplishments also included Division I PING All-West Region, Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, first-team All-Pac-12, Co-Team MVP and Cal's Newcomer of the Year honors.

Morikawa's 2016 summer was highlighted by a victory at the prestigious Sunnehanna Amateur, tying for second after reaching a playoff playing as an amateur at his first professional event at the Web.com Tour's Air Capital Classic presented by Aetna and a Round of 16 showing at the U.S. Amateur.

Morikawa finished in the top 10 overall and was Cal's top finisher in each of the three stroke events he participated in and produced a team-low 68.89 scoring average during the fall of 2016. His fall collegiate season was highlighted by a third-place finish at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in which he had both his lowest 54-hole collegiate score (199, -14) and round with an eight-under par 64 on the first 18 holes. Morikawa, who previously earned second-team All-Am honors from the Global Golf Post for his amateur play during the 2016 calendar year, also played in his first PGA TOUR event as an amateur at the Safeway Open in October of 2016, while finishing third at the 2017 Silicon Valley Amateur and tied for fourth at the 2016 State Fair Amateur.

"Being named to the watch list for the Ben Hogan Award is a well-deserved honor for Collin's play the last year," said Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men's Golf Walter Chun. "It's quite the compliment and Collin knows he's in some elite company. Knowing him, he's going to use this as motivation for the rest of the spring to try and separate himself."

Morikawa is the first Cal player on the watch list since three former Golden Bears – Brandon Hagy, Joël Stalter and Michael Weaver – were on the 2014 watch list with Hagy earning semifinalist honors. Michael Kim is Cal's lone finalist for the honor in 2013 when the Bears had four on the watch list in Hagy, Max Homa, Kim and Weaver. Peter Tomasulo was also a semifinalist in 2004.

The list of 10 semifinalists, which could include individuals not on the watch list, will be unveiled on Wednesday, April 12. On Wednesday, May 3, that group will be pared down to three finalists. The finalists will attend a black-tie banquet at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, May 22, prior to the start of the PGA TOUR's Dean & DeLuca Invitational, where the winner will be crowned.

To find the latest information on The Ben Hogan Award, its candidates and its previous winners, visit TheBenHoganAward.org and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter.