April 5, 2007

NORMAN, Okla. - SMU senior Colt Knost has been named one of 10 semifinalists for the 2007 The Ben Hogan Award, the Colonial Country Club and The Friends of Golf (FOG) in cooperation with the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) announced today. The most prestigious award in men's college golf, The Hogan is presented annually to the top men's NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or junior college golfer taking into account all collegiate and amateur competitions during the last 12 months.

Knost, a Pilot Point native, is a four-time Conference USA Golfer of the Week honoree in 2006-07 and is a six-time tournament winner. He has been a two-time All-Conference and All-Region selection and was one of GolfWeek's 12 mid-season All-Americans. Knost is currently ranked No. 8 in the nation in the GolfWeek/Sagarin Performance Index and recently claimed an impressive fifth-place finish at the 2007 Jones Cup Invitational.

Other semifinalists are Rhys Davies of East Tennessee State, Florida's Billy Horschel, Dustin Johnson of Coastal Carolina, Georgia's Chris Kirk, Southern California's Jamie Lovemark, Pablo Martin and Jonathan Moore of Oklahoma State, Wake Forest's Webb Simpson and Dawie Van Der Walt of Lamar.

The Hogan Award selection committee will announce three finalists on May 2. The three finalists will attend The Hogan Award banquet on May 21 at Colonial Country Club - the Monday prior to the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial - with the recipient announced that day.

2007 The Ben Hogan Award Semifinalists
(in alphabetical order)
Rhys Davies, East Tennessee State
Billy Horschel, Florida
Dustin Johnson, Coastal Carolina
Chris Kirk, Georgia
Colt Knost, SMU
Jamie Lovemark, Southern California
Pablo Martin, Oklahoma State
Jonathan Moore, Oklahoma State
Webb Simpson, Wake Forest
Dawie Van Der Walt, Lamar