FORT WORTH, Texas – Auburn’s own Jackson Koivun and Josiah Gilbert have been named to the 35-player watch list for the 2026 Ben Hogan Award, as announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and Hogan Foundation Wednesday.
Since 2002, the Ben Hogan Award annually honors 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. An esteemed selection committee votes during each stage of the process. The selection committee is comprised of more than 30 leaders in collegiate, amateur and professional golf.
This year's watch list recognizes 35 golfers who represent 26 different universities and 11 countries. Auburn is one of five schools with multiple men on the watch list.
The list will be cut down to 10 semifinalists on Thursday, April 16. That group will be pared down to three finalists on Tuesday, May 12. The finalists will attend a black-tie dinner on Monday, May 25, at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, where the winner will be crowned.
Koivun, a prior Hogan recipient, became the second true freshman to win the award win he was crowned in May of 2024. Koivun was also the first Auburn man to win the award in 30 years, following Will Blackmon in 1994. Additional past winners include Rickie Fowler (2008), Patrick Cantlay (2012), Jon Rahm (2015, 2016), Sahith Theegala (2020) as well as Auburn's very own, associate head coach Chris Williams (2013).
Gilbert appears on the top 35 watch list for a second year in a row.
To begin the spring slate, both men are ranked in the World Amateur Golf Ranking's (WAGR) top 10. Koivun holds the top spot as the No. 1-ranked amateur in the world. Gilbert impresses at No. 10.
Both men pieced together impressive fall showings, but it was Gilbert who walked away with a pair of low medalist performances. He began the season with a win at the Honors Course Invitational and capped the fall with a victory at The Clerico.
Koivun saw tremendous success over the summer on the PGA Tour, making six cuts in seven starts, including a string of four in a row where he placed T11th, T6th, T5th and T4th. Collegiately, he finished inside the top 20 in all three of his fall starts, including a fifth-place performance at The Clerico.
The No. 4 Tigers get their first taste of spring competition next week, Feb. 5-7, at the Amer Ari Invitational hosted by Mauna Lani Golf Club in Waikoloa, Hawai’i.