Stanford freshman Patrick Rodgers was named a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award, which honors the nation’s top college golfer, on Thursday.

Rodgers is one of three finalists for the award, which is presented annually to the best player in college golf, along with UCLA’s Patrick Cantlay and Texas’ Jordan Spieth.

Rodgers was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and made the all-Pac-12 first team after he recorded eight top-10 finishes this season, including two wins at the Fighting Illini Invitational in September and the Western Intercollegiate in April.

Rodgers, a native of Avon, Ind., also placed eighth overall in the Pac-12 tournament with a three-round total of 8-under that included a tournament-best 65 in the third round, making him the top finisher among conference freshmen.

Thanks to his strong play this season, Rodgers was named to the United States Palmer Cup team, which will pit the top college golfers from America against the top European college golfers this June in Newcastle, Northern Ireland.

Cantlay, a sophomore, and Spieth, a freshman, combine with Rodgers to make this the youngest group of finalists ever in the running for the Hogan Award. Only one freshman, Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler in 2008, has ever won the Hogan Award, and no sophomore has ever been crowned.

The winner will be announced on May 21, prior to the start of the PGA Tour’s Crowne Plaza Invitational. The winner’s university will receive a $20,000 grant to its men’s golf scholarship program while the other finalists’ schools will each receive $10,000 grants. In addition, the winner receives an exemption into the PGA Tour’s 2013 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas.

–Jack Blanchat