SILVIS, ILLINOIS | Polished. Poised. Professional.
Those three words summed up Jackson Koivun as he prepared for his first round as a professional today at the John Deere Classic.
Koivun, 21, has a glittering résumé, having swept the college player-of-the-year honors twice in three years at Auburn University, earned a promotion to the big leagues through the PGA Tour University Accelerated program and posted three top-six finishes on tour as an amateur. More recently, he helped Auburn to its second NCAA team title in three years and finished as co-low amateur at the 2026 U.S. Open.
Some have compared Koivun’s amateur prowess to that of Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods, who went on to Hall of Fame careers. But other amateur standouts such as Bryce Molder and Ty Tryon – players who were supposed to be The Man, the Next Nicklaus, the Next Big Thing – are footnotes today.
Koivun, whose body of work augurs well for immediate success, is aware there are no guarantees to glory.
“I just try not to think about it,” Koivun said Wednesday. “I’m thankful for people to think of me like that, but it’s a new chapter, a different lifestyle. I’m trying to ease into it, accept failure if it comes and figure out how to play golf on the PGA Tour.”
That Koivun even uses the word failure is telling. Many pros avoid speaking in the negative as much as they avoid walking in the rough. He may be optimistic, but he’s not naive. He knows the pro tour is cutthroat.
“College is so much fun and you have six to eight really, really close friends you’re playing and competing with every day,” Koivun said. “Out here, you’re definitely by yourself. You have your select friends, but you’re playing against each other and playing for a job.
“I definitely felt that a little bit last summer. I think I’ll feel it a little bit more now.”
Usually, fledgling pros draw tee times at dawn or dusk with guys you couldn’t pick out of a police lineup. Koivun’s companions for the first two rounds at John Deere are Jordan Spieth and Ben Griffin, smack in the middle of the morning wave.
Nick Dunlap has been there. Two years ago, he won the PGA Tour’s American Express tournament as an amateur, promptly turned professional and won again six months later at the Barracuda Championship. But he has been climbing uphill since. This season, he’s made the cut in four of 12 starts – one in the Zurich Classic team tournament – with a best individual finish of T24 in Myrtle Beach.
“It’s a little different,” Dunlap, 22, said of Koivun’s situation. “He’s played a handful of events and he’s played well. I don’t know if I have much advice for him. The hardest part out here is it can get a little lonely at times. I’m starting to have a buddy travel [with me], try to keep it as normal as possible. Have a life. Do some stuff off the golf course.
“It can get a little repetitive, being your job. So we go to a lot of cool places, baseball games, have a life away from the golf course. Golf’s golf. You’re going to have your ups and downs. If you can allow yourself to not get in that bubble of not grind-grind-grind-grind, it leads to having more fun on the course as well.
“I’d gone through slumps before, but not when everyone was watching.”
People will be watching Koivun. Usually, fledgling pros draw tee times at dawn or dusk with guys you couldn’t pick out of a police lineup. Koivun’s companions for the first two rounds at John Deere are Jordan Spieth and Ben Griffin, smack in the middle of the morning wave.
Koivun, who tied for 11th at TPC Deere Run last year, picked the John Deere for his professional debut because his father, George, grew up in Moline, Illinois, where Deere & Co. is headquartered. He stayed with a family friend for a couple of days, reinforcing the old-home-week feeling, but it’s all business now.
“I’ll definitely feel a little bit of nerves, but I’ve always told myself if I’m not feeling nerves it means I don’t care,” Koivun said.
This moment is 12 months in the making. Koivun mulled turning pro after earning his tour card a year ago, immediately after his sophomore season at Auburn, but demurred.
“I wasn’t quite ready,” Koivun said.
Last Christmas, reviewing a summer that included a Walker Cup berth, he decided this summer would be the right time. Subsequently, winning a second NCAA team title at Auburn reinforced the argument.
“After last summer, there was a feeling, so I had an opportunity and took it,” Koivun said. “I talked to plenty of people – my agent, coaches, my parents especially – at the end of the day, I felt like I was ready.”
Ready or not, the day is here.