David Puig's February Has Him in the Hunt For Hogan Monthly Award
2020-21 Sun Devil Men's Golf Round-by-Round | ASU Men's Golf in the Ryder Cup, Walker Cup and Palmer Cup
By Brandon Jones, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism Class of 2022
Sun Devil men's golf sophomore David Puig has been selected as one of three finalists for the February Ben Hogan Golfer of the Month Award for the second consecutive month. The award is an honor rewarded to the most outstanding NCAA golfer each month. Alongside Puig is Texas Tech's Ludvig Aberg and Colorado State's AJ Ott.
The award's voters include 12 members of the Hogan Trophy Award Foundation and three votes from social media. The top vote getter on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram will each get one vote, with 15 total votes for the award. Social media voting will be done by liking the respective post on each player from now through Thursday (Mar. 18) at 9 p.m. CT. The final winner will be announced on Friday.
Vote for @PuigCorrius of @sundevilmgolf for Ben Hogan Award February Golfer of the Month honors! Like this post, as well as the official Hogan Award posts on Instagram and Facebook. The top vote getter on each social media channel will receive a committee vote. pic.twitter.com/LbAsmYV8Kg
— The Ben Hogan Award (@BenHoganAward) March 16, 2021
Puig jumped out to a phenomenal start in the spring season for the Sun Devils and is ranked No. 1 in Golf Week's player rankings. On Jan. 18, Puig made a match-clinching two-putt on the 18th hole to give the Sun Devils the last point they needed to beat rival Arizona Wildcats in the season-opening Copper Cup.
Just nine days later, he shot a final-round 70 en route to a tournament-record nine stroke win at the Southwestern Invitational on Jan. 27. Puig (70-66-70) finished 10-under par for the tournament, comfortably ahead of runner-up Joshua McCarthey of Pepperdine, who finish 1-under par. Puig was the sixth Sun Devil to win the tournament and the first to win it since Paul Casey in 1998.
Puig took his momentum to Waimea, Hawaii, where he led the Sun Devils to a 12-shot victory over USC and took the individual title at the Amer Ari Intercollegiate on Feb. 4. Puig (67-68-68) finished 13-under par, four shots clear of teammate Blake Wagoner and USC's Sixian Guo, who both finished runner-up at 9-under par. Puig was the fourth Sun Devil to win the tournament and the first to win it since Jesper Kennegard in 2009.
A couple of weeks later, Puig opened the Prestige in Palm Desert, CA with a 7-under 64 and eventually finished T-7 at 1-under for the tournament. In his most recent tournament play at the Cabo Collegiate in San Antonio, TX, Puig bounced back from early struggles to finish T-10 at even for the tournament after recording birdies on four of the last five holes in the final round of the Mar. 1-3 tournament.
Puig began the season at No. 13 in the country in Golf Channel's preseason rankings, which also had the Sun Devils as the No. 1 preseason squad.
List of Ben Hogan Award Golfers of the Month
August 2019 - Andy Ogletree, Georgia Tech
September 2019 - Cooper Dossey, Baylor
October 2019 - Chris Gotterup, Rutgers & Peter Kuest, BYU
November 2019 - Parker Gillam, Wake Forest
December 2019 - Noah Norton, Georgia Tech
January 2020 - Sahith Theegala, Pepperdine
February 2020 - Ricky Castillo, Florida
July 2020 - Tyler Strafaci, Georgia Tech
August 2020 - Tyler Strafaci, Georgia Tech
September 2020 - John Pak, Florida State
October 2020 - Kyle Hogan, Texas Tech
November 2020 - Ford Clegg, Mississippi State
December 2020 - Will Holcomb, Sam Houston State
January 2021 – Vincent Norman, Florida State