FORT WORTH, Texas (May 12, 2026) – The top three players in both the World Amateur Golf Rankings and the Clippd Scoreboard College Golf Ranking – Virginia’s Ben James, Auburn’s Jackson Koivun and Oklahoma State’s Preston Stout – are the finalists for the 2026 Ben Hogan Award presented by Baird. The trio will attend a black-tie dinner Monday, May 25, at the TCU Legends Club in Fort Worth, Texas, where the winner will be crowned.
The Ben Hogan Award annually awards the top men’s NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer based on all collegiate, amateur and professional events over the previous 12 months. The joint announcement was made by Fort Worth Colonial Charities (FWCC), the Friends of Golf (FOG) and the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).
James, a three-time semifinalist, is the first-ever Ben Hogan Award finalist from the Virginia Cavaliers’ program. He is the fourth ACC player in the past three years to be a finalist and is seeking to be the second straight winner from the conference, following Florida State’s Luke Clanton.
The product of Milford, Conn., is ranked No. 1 in the PGA Tour University rankings, No. 3 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking and No. 3 on the Clippd Scoreboard College Golf Ranking.
James finished in the top five of all nine of his regular season college tournaments. His achievements were highlighted by a share of first place at the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational at Colonial in the fall. In all, he carried a 69.11 stroke average over 27 rounds with 16 sub-70 scores.
Among his amateur highlights, James reached the quarterfinals at the 2025 Western Amateur and made the Round of 32 at the 125th U.S. Amateur after finishing fifth in stroke play. He was a member of the victorious United States team at the Walker Cup and also qualified for the U.S. Open.
Koivun is just the second player ever to be a three-time finalist for the Ben Hogan Award, joining Stanford’s Maverick McNealy. This year, the 2024 recipient seeks to become the third golfer in history to win the award twice, a feat accomplished only by Jon Rahm and Ludvig Aberg.
Koivun, from Chapel Hill, N.C., is ranked first in both the World Amateur Golf Ranking and Clippd Scoreboard College Golf Ranking. In 2025, he was the recipient of the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top-ranked amateur.
He has six collegiate wins this spring, including three consecutive victories heading into NCAA Regionals. Koivun became the first golfer since 1967 to win three straight SEC individual championships. In college events, he owns a 67.88 scoring average over 33 rounds with 24 rounds in the 60s.
In amateur play, he was a member of the U.S. Walker Cup and Arnold Palmer Cup teams and reached the Round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur. Koivun also played in five PGA TOUR events where he recorded four top-12 finishes, including top-5s at the Procore Championship and Wyndham Championship.
Stout is a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award for the first time, and becomes the 11th Oklahoma State player to be named a finalist since 2002. The Big 12 Player of the Year is bidding to become the fifth Cowboy to win the award in Fort Worth.
A native of Richardson, Texas, Stout is ranked second in both the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) and Clippd Scoreboard College Golf Ranking. Stout has four college wins to his credit, highlighted by his third straight title at the Big 12 Championships when he became the first golfer in conference history to achieve that feat.
He owns a 69.00 scoring average over 34 rounds and has won three of his last four starts (Big 12 Championship, Mountaineer Invitational and Maridoe Collegiate). He also won the Cabo Collegiate in February and was third at the 2025 NCAA Championships, the first event of this award season.
Stout was a member of the United States teams at the Walker Cup and Arnold Palmer Cup. Additionally, he advanced to the Round of 16 at the U.S. Amateur and won the Northeast Amateur.
The Ben Hogan Award has honored the outstanding amateur collegiate golfer in Fort Worth since 2002. The original Ben Hogan Trophy, which featured different award criteria, was issued at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif., beginning in 1990. An esteemed international selection committee, comprised of 40 leaders in collegiate, amateur and professional golf, votes during each stage of the process.
Over the years, recipients of the Ben Hogan Award have combined to accumulate 70 PGA TOUR wins and amass more than $500 million in prize money on the tour. Since 2002, the Ben Hogan Award has donated more than $1.5 million to college golf programs and charitable organizations associated with youth golf.
Past recipients are Ludvig Aberg (‘22, ‘23), Ricky Barnes (‘03), Patrick Cantlay (‘12), Luke Clanton (’25), Matt Every (‘06), Rickie Fowler (‘08), Doug Ghim (‘18), Bill Haas (‘04), Viktor Hovland (‘19), Chris Kirk (‘07), Jackson Koivun (’24), Hunter Mahan (‘03), Maverick McNealy (‘17), Ryan Moore (‘05), John Pak (‘21), Jon Rahm (‘15, ‘16), Patrick Rodgers (‘14), Kyle Stanley (‘09), Nick Taylor (‘10), Sahith Theegala (‘20), D.J. Trahan (‘02), Peter Uihlein (‘11) and Chris Williams (‘13).
The Ben Hogan Award Dinner on May 25 will be livestreamed on TheBenHoganAward.org and will air on Sirius XM 84. For more information on the Ben Hogan Award presented by Baird, visit TheBenHoganAward.org and follow @BenHoganAward on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. For additional information on Baird, visit rwbaird.com and follow @rwbaird on Instagram and Twitter and Baird on Facebook.