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Stanley, Moore join 2013 Colonial field

Kyle Stanley and Ryan Moore, two past winners of the Ben Hogan Award, have joined the field for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, May 20-26 in Fort Worth. Stanley won the award, given annually in Fort Worth to the top player in college golf, when he played for Clemson in 2009. Moore, a former UNLV player, was honored in 2005.

_ Jimmy Burch

TCU golfer Brun named finalist for Hogan Award; winner announced May 20 in FW

TCU golfer Julien Brun, a three-time winner of college tournaments this season, has been selected as one of three finalists for the 2013 Ben Hogan Award, given to the nation’s top college golfer.

Brun, a sophomore from Antibes, France who turned heads by winning a 2012 European Challenge Tour event while competing as an amateur, was joined on today’s list of finalists by California’s Michael Kim and Washington’s Chris Williams.

 Brun, a semifinalist last year, is the first TCU golfer to be chosen as a Hogan Award finalist by members of the selection committee. He will join Kim and Williams, also semifinalists for last year’s Hogan Award, at the May 20 announcement of the winner in Fort Worth during tournament week activities at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

An All-American and first-team All-Big 12 selection, Brun has posted eight top-10 finishes in 11 college events in the past year, including a runner-up finish at the 2012 NCAA Championships. Selection committee members consider a golfer’s performances in college and amateur events over the past 12 months when voting for the winner.

Brun, who became the sixth amateur to defeat professionals in a European Challenge Tour event at the 2012 Allianz Open Toulouse, is on pace to set the TCU record for lowest season scoring average (70.45). He ranks fourth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and is third among college players in the Golfstat Cup.

But his fellow finalists also offer lofty credentials.

Kim, a sophomore, is the top-ranked college player in both the Golfstat Cup and the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. He has won four college events this season and was selected Tuesday as the Pac-12 Player of the year. In 12 college tournaments, Kim has yet to finish below 11^th in any event this season.

Williams, a senior, is the top-ranked player in both the World Amateur Golf Rankings and the Scratch Players World Rankings. He received the 2012 Mark H. McCormack Medal as the world’s top-ranked amateur and is slated to play in both the 2013 U.S. Open and 2013 British Open. But Williams is winless in 10 college events this season, although he has three runner-up finishes and seven top-10 placements.

Before Brun reached the finals in balloting for the 2013 Hogan Award, the best finish by a TCU golfer had been two semifinals appearances: Brun in 2012 and Adam Rubinson, a Fort Worth Paschal graduate, in 2003.

_ Jimmy Burch 

Updated Byron Nelson commitment list

Officials at the HP Byron Nelson Championship added three notable players to today's commitment list: Westlake resident Ben Crane and two golfers who have won multiple major championships, Padraig Harrington and Angel Cabrera. The last additions came three days before the list of Nelson competitors becomes final for next week's PGA Tour stop in Irving, May 13-19. The commitment deadline is Friday at 5 p.m.

Below is an updated list of confirmed Nelson competitors at this point:

HP Byron Nelson Championship

A list of golfers who have committed to compete in next week’s HP Byron Nelson Championship, May 13-19 in Irving. Commitments are not official until Friday at 5 p.m.:

Stephen Ames, Sang-Moon Bae, Ricky Barnes, Charlie Beljan, Jonas Blixt, Jason Bohn, Justin Bolli, Steven Bowditch, Keegan Bradley, Michael Bradley, Angel Cabrera, Chad Campbell, Roberto Castro, Greg Chalmers, Gary Christian, Will Claxton, Donald Constable, Ben Crane, Brian Davis, Jason Day, Brendon de Jonge, Graham DeLaet, James Driscoll, Jason Dufner, Ken Duke, Harris English, Derek Ernst, Bob Estes, Matt Every, Martin Flores, Brad Fritsch, Tommy Gainey, Scott Gardiner, Robert Garrigus, Bobby Gates, Brian Gay, Fabian Gomez, Andres Gonzales, Jeff Gove, Luke Guthrie, James Hahn, Paul Haley II, Brian Harman, Padraig Harrington, J.J. Henry, Jim Herman, Tim Herron, Justin Hicks, Charley Hoffman, Charles Howell III, John Huh, Trevor Immelman,  Freddie Jacobson, Brandt Jobe, Dustin Johnson, Matt Jones, Robert Karlsson, Martin Kaymer, Jerry Kelly, Colt Knost, Jason Kokrak, Matt Kuchar, Hank Kuehne, Doug LaBelle II, Neal Lancaster, Scott Langley, Steve LeBrun, D.H. Lee, Richard H.Lee, Marc Leishman, Justin Leonard, Michael Letzig, David Lingmerth, Luke List, Jeff Maggert, Steve Marino, David Mathis, Troy Matteson, Billy Mayfair, William McGirt, George McNeill, Eric Meierdierks, Seung-Yul Noh, Henrik Norlander, Sean O’Hair, Joe Ogilvie, Louis Oosthuizen, Jeff Overton, Greg Owen, Ryan Palmer, Rod Pampling, Jin Park, Jesper Parnevik, Cameron Percy, Pat Perez, Kenny Perry, Carl Pettersson, Scott Piercy, D.A. Points, Alistair Presnell, Dicky Pride, Chez Reavie, Patrick Reed, Brian Ricketts, Tag Ridings, Alexandre Rocha, John Rollins, Andres Romero, Rory Sabbatini, Charl Schwartzel, John Senden, Wes Short, Jr., Marcel Siem, Vijay Singh, Jordan Spieth, Scott Stallings, Shawn Stefani, Darron Stiles, Robert Streb, Chris Stroud, Brian Stuard, Daniel Summerhays, Kevin Sutherland, Andrew Svoboda, Vaughn Taylor, Nicholas Thompson, Guan Tianlang, Peter Tomasulo, D.J. Trahan, Cameron Tringale, Bo Van Pelt, Scott Verplank, Johnson Wagner, Jimmy Walker, Aaron Watkins, Boo Weekley, Mike Weir, Charlie Wi, Lee Williams, Casey Wittenberg, Gary Woodland.

_ Jimmy Burch

 

Harrington, Cabrera, Crain join mix for 2013 Byron Nelson tournament

Padriag Harrington and Angel Cabrera, two golfers who have won multiple major championships, joined Westlake resident Ben Crane on today’s updated commitment list at the HP Byron Nelson Championship, May 13-19 in Irving.

Cabrera, winner of the 2009 Masters and 2007 U.S. Open, also reached a playoff at the 2013 Masters before falling to Adam Scott in last month’s event. Harrington, who finished 15^th at last year’s Nelson, owns two British Open titles (2007, 2008) and also won the 2008 PGA Championship. Crane’s best finish this season was a tie for fourth at the Shell Houston Open.

_ Jimmy Burch

Updated Colonial commitment list: 98 players at this point

As of today, there are 98 golfers on the updated commtiment list for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, May 20-26 in Fort Worth. Below is the most recent list:

 

Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial commitments

A list of golfers who have committed to compete in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, May 20-26 in Fort Worth. Commitments are not official until Friday, May 17:

Fulton Allem, Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley, Charles Beljian, Jonas Blixt, Scott Brown, Jonathan Byrd, Chad Campbell, Patrick Cantlay, Bud Cauley, Stewart Cink, Tim Clark, Keith Clearwater, Erik Compton, Franklin Corpening, Ben Crane, John Daly, Brian Davis, Brendon de Jonge, Graham DeLaet, Jason Dufner, Ken Duke, Harris English, Derek Ernst, Bob Estes, Matt Every, Steve Flesch, Rickie Fowler, Steven Fox, David Frost, Jim Furyk, Tommy Gainey, Robert Garrigus, Brian Gay, Tom Gillis, Lucas Glover, Luke Guthrie, James Hahn, David Hearn, Russell Henley, J.J. Henry, Tim Herron, Charley Hoffman, Billy Horschel, John Huh, Freddie Jacobson, Zach Johnson, Matt Jones, Chris Kirk, Matt Kuchar, Martin Laird, Richard H. Lee, Tom Lehman, Marc Leishman, Justin Leonard, David Lingmerth, Davis Love III, Hunter Mahan, Troy Matteson, William McGirt, John Merrick, Bryce Molder, Seung-Yul Nol, Louis Oosthuizen, Jeff Overton, Ryan Palmer, Corey Pavin, Pat Perez, John Peterson, Carl Pettersson, D.A. Points, Ted Potter Jr., Dicky Pride, Kyle Reifers, John Rollins, Rory Sabbatini, Charl Schwartzel, John Senden, Vijay Singh, Jordan Spieth, Kevin Stadler, Scott Stallings, Henrik Stenson, Kevin Streelman, Chris Stroud, Brian Stuard, Josh Teater, Michael Thompson, David Toms, Cameron Tringale, Bo Van Pelt, Camilo Villegas, Johnson Wagner, Jimmy Walker, Boo Weekley, Charlie Wi, Casey Wittenberg, Y.E. Yang.

_ Jimmy Burch

Recent PGA Tour winners Ernst, Horschel join 2013 Colonial field

Derek Ernst, winner of Sunday’s playoff at the Wells Fargo Championship, joined Billy Horschel, winner of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, among Monday’s latest wave of commitments to compete in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, May 20-26 in Fort Worth.

Other fresh commitments Monday included Tim Clark, Bud Cauley, Erik Compton, Russell Henley, Richard H. Lee and Pat Perez. Past champions Tom Lehman (1995) and Fulton Allem (1993) also have added their names to the Colonial mix. A total of 98 golfers are on the updated commitment list.

_ Jimmy Burch

Duke golfer earns Byron Nelson Award

Duke golfer Brinson Paolini has been selected as recipient of the 2013 Byron Nelson Award, given annually to a graduating senior based on his academic and athletic achievements as well as his off-course behavior.

An All-America performer, Paolini has posted 12 top-5 finishes in 44 college tournaments with a career scoring of 72.25, second-best in school history. He also has volunteered in several community-service projects aimed at fighting cancer and feeding those in need. Paolini was a three-time member of the All-ACC Academic team.

_ Jimmy Burch

Davis Love III joins 2013 Colonial field as sponsor's exemption

Davis Love III, winner of 20 PGA Tour events and captain of last year’s U.S. Ryder Cup team, has accepted a sponsor’s exemption to compete at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, May 20-26 in Fort Worth. Love will be making his 24^th Colonial appearances, with runner-up finishes in 1987 and 2000.

_ Jimmy Burch

Guan Tianlang, 14-year-old who won low amateur at Masters, joins field for 2013 Nelson

Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old who finished as low amateur at the 2013 Masters while competing as the youngest player in tournament history, accepted a sponsor’s exemption today to play in the HP Byron Nelson Championship, May 13-19 in Irving.

Guan, an eighth-grader from Guangzhou, China, is the reigning Asia-Pacific Amateur Champion and has made the cut in both of his appearances at PGA Tour events this season. In addition to being low amateur at the Masters, where he was the only one of six amateurs to make the 36-hole cut, Guan finished 71^st in Sunday’s final round at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Included was a second-round 69 that helped him survive the cut.

“What Guan has been able to accomplish at such a young age is very impressive” said Mike McKinley, 2013 Nelson tournament chairman. “We have always had a tradition of identifying young talent and giving them an opportunity to compete at the Nelson. We look forward to continuing that with Guan.”

At the 2010 Nelson, Dallas resident Jordan Spieth tied for 16^th while competing as a 16-year-old junior in high school. Guan will become the youngest competitor in Nelson tournament history.

Other golfers to join the Nelson field Monday were Dustin Johnson, the No. 19 player in the world golf rankings, and Marcel Siem, a native of Germany who will be competing on a foreign exemption. Siem won a European Tour event in Morocco earlier this season and tied for 10^th at the PGA Tour’s Valero Texas Open.

_ Jimmy Burch

Spaniard Ciganda leads North Texas LPGA Shootout by two strokes

Carlota Ciganda, a 22-year-old from Pamplona, Spain, and in her second full year as a pro out of Arizona State, blazed her way to six birdies and only one bogey for a 5-under 66 and a two-stroke lead Saturday after the third round of the North Texas LPGA Shootout at Las Colinas Country Club.

Ciganda is at 11-under 202 after 54 holes going into Sunday's final round in Irving.

World No. 1 Inbee Park of South Korea and first- and second-round leader Caroline Masson of Germany are tied for second place. Park fired a 67 Saturday and Masson regrouped from a stumbling start that included a double bogey and a bogey for a 69.

World No. 3 Na Yeon Choi of South Korea made a quick charge Saturday morning and finished with a 66 and is alone in fourth place at 205.

Fort Worth resident and Saginaw native Angela Stanford couldn't get her game going and dropped into a tie for 26th with a 72-211, nine strokes out of the lead.

The two high school qualifiers, Haley Mills of Fort Worth and Taylor Coleman of San Antonio Johnson,  fell below the third-round projected cut line. Mills shot 76-220 and Coleman, who opened with a 68 on Thursday, shot 78-223.

-- Vince Langford