Holds off late charge by Scottie Scheffler
It took Jackson Koivun exactly three weeks to live up to his advance billing on the PGA Tour.
Putting on a weekend clinic with bogey-free rounds of 61-66, the former Auburn All-American won his first professional title in record fashion Sunday at the 3M Open. He set a tournament scoring record of 25-under-par 259, and along the way he outlasted Scottie Scheffler by three shots at TPC Twin Cities. He won $1,584,000 and zoomed into 70th place on the FedEx Cup points list.
The win capped a two-month stretch in which he helped Auburn claim the NCAA Men’s Championship ahead of turning professional.
“I’m just trying to soak it all in,” he said. “Fully hasn’t set in yet, but I’m sure it will come any second here now.”
Koivun could have joined the PGA Tour last year after accumulating enough points through the tour’s accelerated university program, but instead chose to return for a final year of college golf. Now, he’s a first-time Tour winner.
While elated to win, Koivun admitted it wasn’t unexpected. He said some past starts on tour helped him gain a comfort level while competing against the best players in the world.
“I know the PGA Tour is hard and it’s very competitive, and fortunately enough I was able to get quite a few sponsor exemptions last summer to kind of get acquainted with the feeling of playing on the PGA Tour,” he said. “These last three events have been definitely a little bit of a wake-up call getting back into the swing of things on the PGA Tour, but I’m just excited with the way I played this week.”
Koivun made a key par save on the ninth hole Sunday to keep a three-shot lead and gain momentum heading to the back nine. He said that was the crucial point in the tournament.
Making a crucial putt on No.. 9
“The putt on 9 might be the biggest putt I made all week,” he said. “Scoreboard was right there and I saw exactly how I stood. If I missed that, then I only had a two-shot lead where last time I checked I had a five-shot lead. So, making that was huge for my momentum, just helped me keep it rolling on the back nine.”
Koivun earns a two-year exemption for the win and also earns a trip to the Masters.
The 21-year-old said the final round wasn’t without a case of nerves.
“I started to feel a little bit of nerves maybe on 15 or 16 because it started setting in that OK, you can definitely do this and you’ve got some tough holes coming down the stretch,” he said. “I hadn’t particularly played 18 well except for yesterday, hadn’t hit the best drives. I didn’t really hit the best drive today, but it worked out. I think once I got over that drive on 18 and got it down there in the fairway, we definitely felt a little less pressure.”
Koivun casually dropped a 14-foot par putt to close out the win in style. He gave a couple of small fist pumps when the putt dropped, and then momentarily covered his face with his hands before getting a hug from his father.
There won’t be much time to celebrate. Koivun was headed to the Rocket Classic as he tries to solidify a spot in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
“I’m going to try to cherish this tonight and then mental reset heading over to the Rocket Classic and playing the Wyndham Championship,” he said. “There’s still work to do to hopefully make that FedEx Cup.”
Featured image of Jackson Koivun: PGA Tour
Gregg Dewalt is the editor of Alabama Golf News
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