FORT WORTH, Tex. – Cal's National Player of the Year candidate Collin Morikawa was named as one of three national finalists Thursday for the 2019 Ben Hogan Award presented by Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. (Konica Minota). The announcement of the finalists for the prestigious honor were made by The Hogan Trophy Foundation, Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA). Morikawa is a finalist for the second consecutive season and one of only seven multi-time finalists in the history of the award.

"Being named a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award is such an honor," said Morikawa, who is looking to become the first Cal player to win the honor and is one of only two Cal players to ever be a finalist with the other Michael Kim in 2013. "Mr. Hogan's name represents so much in the game of golf and to be associated with this award again is very special. To know that my past year of amateur and collegiate golf is considered to be one of the strongest in the country shows that my game is continuing to improve. I'm so thankful for this opportunity."

"I'm really happy for Collin to be named a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award," Cal's Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men's Golf Walter Chun said. "He's very deserving to be at Colonial with his incredible resume. It's a special event that I like to think of as the Heisman Trophy of college golf, and I'm very grateful that I'll get to share that time with him once again."

The Ben Hogan Award is given annually to the top men's college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions over the past 12 months. The selection committee is made up of 30 leaders and experts in  amateur, college and professional golf. The award, which was first issued in 1990 and also included academic achievement in its original list of standards, revised its criteria for the 2001-02 collegiate season to its current standard of honoring the outstanding amateur collegiate golfer.

The three finalists which also include Oklahoma State teammates Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff will attend a black-tie dinner at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, May 20, where the winner will be presented the trophy from 2018 Ben Hogan Award winner Doug Ghim. This year's recipient will receive the first exemption into the PGA TOUR's 2019 Charles Schwab Invitational.

Since 2002, the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation has awarded more than $700,000 in scholarships to over two dozen schools. Last year, $92,000 in grants were distributed.

The May 20 banquet will be streamed live on TheBenHoganAward.org beginning at 8 pm CT/6 pm PT.

For more information on the Ben Hogan Award, visit TheBenHoganAward.org and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter.

Below are notes on Morikawa focused on the period of time taken into consideration for The Ben Hogan Award that began in June of 2018 and will end in May of 2019 with an extended bio available by clicking on his name.

Ever had the chance to see @BenHoganAward finalist Collin Morikawa on the course?

Well, here you go ??#Cal #GoBears #Pac12Golf #NCAAGolf #ACaseForCollin pic.twitter.com/YuaoTecKaE

— Cal Men's Golf (@CalMensGolf) May 3, 2019

Collin Morikawa, 5-9, 170, Sr., 3L, La Cañada Flintridge, CA (La Cañada HS)

• A National Player of the Year candidate who has a long list of 2018-19 collegiate honors including his selections as a Ben Hogan Award finalist and Byron Nelson Award finalist, as well as a member of the Haskins Award watch list and the Pac-12 Men's Golfer of the Year
• Has five collegiate victories including a pair in 2018-19 at the Pac-12 Championships and The Farms Invitational
• Has finished tied for seventh or better in all 10 of his stroke-play events in 2018-19
• Has current streaks of 16 straight top-10 and 23 consecutive top-20 finishes dating back to his 2017-18 junior and 2016-17 sophomore seasons, respectively
• Second in the nation in 2018-19 with a 68.39 stroke average that is within 0.03 of national leader Matthew Wolff of Oklahoma State and 0.29 better than the all-time single-season NCAA record of 68.68 he established as a 2017-18 junior
• Currently nation's second-ranked collegiate golfer according to Golfstat and third by Golfweek/Sagarin
• Represented Team USA at the 2018 World Amateur Team Championships in Ireland, where he helped the Americans to a second-place finish in a 72-team field and was tied for eighth individually a field of 215
• Won three of his four matches to help Team USA to victory over Team International at the Arnold Palmer Cup in France as he became the first Cal player to participate in the Arnold Palmer Cup twice 
• Currently ranks second in the Scratch Players World Amateur Ranking and third in the World Amateur Golf Ranking