SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA | Unlike most U.S. Amateur competitors, Jackson Koivun has spent a big chunk of his summer competing favorably alongside the world’s best professionals on the PGA Tour.
A rising junior at Auburn University and the world’s No. 1 ranked amateur, Koivun became the third player in history to earn a tour card through the PGA Tour University Accelerated program in May. Although he deferred taking up tour membership for at least a year to return to Auburn for his junior season, the 20-year-old from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has excelled in his recent tour cameos, posting top-10 finishes in his last two starts, including a T5 finish at the Wyndham Championship in his home state earlier this month.
Koivun’s brushes with the big time, which also included a U.S. Open start in June, might have made him complacent for his return to the amateur game at the Olympic Club. But Koivun prepared for the U.S. Amateur as he would for any event, excited for the challenge.
“These guys are really good and it’s great to be back playing some amateur golf,” Koivun said. “It’s such a good test and it’s a long week, and kind of understanding that it’s kind of like a tour event, you have to manage your sleep and your rest correctly before going out.”
With rounds of 68-71 (-1), the latter on Olympic’s renowned Lake Course, Koivun qualified for match play as the 15th seed. He defeated Ryan Voois, 2 and 1, in the first round on Wednesday and was scheduled to face Max Herendeen in the round of 32 on Thursday.
The U.S. Amateur is Koivun’s first non-collegiate amateur event since the Jones Cup Invitational in early January. In the meantime, he has played in six PGA Tour events and made the 36-hole cut in five of them, with his only miss coming in the U.S. Open at Oakmont, where he shot 72-76. In addition to his top-five finish at Wyndham, Koivun finished T6 at the ISCO Championship and T11 at the John Deere Classic in July.
For Koivun, no stage is too big. Professional golf and amateur golf are both golf at the end of the day, and Koivun is pretty good at it.
“I try my best to think it’s just golf,” Koivun said before the Wyndham Championship. “I like to think that a 7-iron is a 7-iron no matter where you’re at. No, obviously the golf courses might be a little tougher, a little more tricked out and the competition’s obviously the best on the planet, but just trying to not let myself get too caught up in the moment and just go play golf.”
Despite the option to turn pro and compete for the PGA Tour’s riches after only two college seasons, Koivun decided to wait. At the John Deere Classic, he said he still believes college can make him better.
Nick Clinard, Koivun’s head coach at Auburn, knew very quickly that he wanted to make Koivun, the nation’s top-ranked recruit in 2023, a Tiger.
“He was just a winner,” Clinard said. “He learned to win at a young age, he won a lot of events and was able to shoot in the red numbers a lot. We were very impressed.”
And Koivun did not disappoint. As a freshman, he won the Southeastern Conference individual title and was named SEC freshman of the year and SEC player of the year. He became the first player in history to win the Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson national awards in the same season. He also helped Auburn to its first NCAA Division I national championship.
As a sophomore, Koivun won the SEC individual title again, the first player to win back to back in 49 years. And he followed Gordon Sargent and Luke Clanton by earning a tour card through PGA Tour University Accelerated, reaching the 20-point threshold for membership by finishing T4 in stroke play at the NCAA Championship.
Despite the option to turn pro and compete for the PGA Tour’s riches after only two college seasons, Koivun decided to wait. At the John Deere Classic, he said he still believes college can make him better.
“I think college golf is in such a good spot where it’s just furthering and preparing guys to come out here and compete on a week-to-week basis,” Koivun said. “That’s something I’m very happy to be a part of and definitely a part of my reason to stay for another year.”
Clinard is certainly happy that his star is coming back.
“Selfishly I’m very happy but I only want the best for Jackson Koivun,” Clinard said. “I’m going to support him no matter what he does in the future.”
Don’t be surprised if Koivun’s junior season at Auburn is just as good as the first two. Clinard says Koivun is putting a big effort into nutrition and his body, which is paying dividends on the course.
“He’s bigger, he’s stronger, he’s faster,” Clinard said. “He was about 167 ball speed when he came to college and now he’s like 174, so that’s another 20-plus yards.”
Koivun has a first-one-in, last-one-out mentality. Clinard calls him a “range rat” who spends hours working on his game not just because he has to, but because he wants to and loves golf.
“We may get back from a tournament at 5 o’clock and everybody goes home,” Clinard said. “At 5:30 Jackson’s in the hitting bays hitting golf balls. You really can’t teach the commitment he has to be the best he can be.”
“Every shot he is engaged and focused and optimistic that it’s going to be a good result. Kids like that have an uncanny ability to play at the elite level and I look for him to go out on the PGA Tour, do great things and achieve all of his dreams.” – Nick Clinard
According to Clinard, Koivun is also strong mentally, something that will serve him well at the next level.
“He’s got incredible optimism and positivity,” Clinard said. “Every shot he is engaged and focused and optimistic that it’s going to be a good result. Kids like that have an uncanny ability to play at the elite level and I look for him to go out on the PGA Tour, do great things and achieve all of his dreams.”
But first, Koivun still has some things to prove as an amateur. During stroke play on Monday and Tuesday at Olympic, Koivun was paired with Ben James and Ethan Fang, ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. James advanced to match play, shooting 72-70 (+2) to finish one stroke below the cut line, while Fang, who won the Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s in June, missed the cut.
“I’ve gotten very, very close [with them] over the past couple of years and they’re both great people and really good golfers,” Koivun said. “And seeing Ben birdie 18 [on Tuesday], I was really happy for him to move inside that cut line.”
While opponents this week, the trio will be teammates on the U.S. Walker Cup squad that will take on Great Britain and Ireland at Cypress Point in September.
In Koivun’s view, the Ryder Cup can wait.
“It was just another reason to stay amateur,” Koivun said. “Because it’s kind of hard to beat a Walker Cup at Cypress Point.”