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<\/p>\nWhat Jackson Koivun did Sunday at the 3M Open in Blaine, Minn., wasn\u2019t really all that significant or even newsworthy. He simply added his name to a list\u2014albeit an impressive one\u2014that includes Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young and Viktor Hovland as just another player who relegated World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler to second place for the fifth time this year on the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n
Ho hum.<\/p>\n
Wait. Um, let\u2019s roll that back. What just happened? Only clearly a seismic victory with distinct future ramifications for one of the most promising players of the last quarter century.<\/p>\n
Hyperbole? Maybe. But Koivun, twice a winner of the Jack Nicklaus Award as collegiate player of the year, didn\u2019t take long to start fulfilling his potential. He performed near flawlessly in storming to his first PGA Tour title\u2014in his third professional start \u2026 at 21 years of age \u2026 with the spectre of Scheffler casting his omnipresent shadow over the proceedings. All the Auburn All-American did at TPC Twin Cities was systematically and clinically shoot a bogey-free five-under 66 and set a tournament record with a 25-under 259 total.<\/p>\n
The seventh first-time winner on the tour this year, Koivun beat hard-luck loser Scheffler (who would have thought attaching that description to the talented Texan?) by three shots to earn a two-year exemption, $1.584 million, and the mantle of being called golf\u2019s \u201cnext big thing.\u201d At least for now. Time will tell. But time is on his side.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just trying to soak it all in. Fully hasn\u2019t set in yet, but I\u2019m sure it will come any second here now,\u201d said Koivun, who moved up to 70 in the FedEx Cup standings, which as of right now would qualify him for the playoffs. \u201cThat\u2019s what we train for. That\u2019s the position we all strive to be in even through college. Once you\u2019re finally in it, you\u2019ve just got to keep your head down and commit to every single golf shot. Fortunately, it worked out for me today.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Andrew Wevers<\/p>\n
Ranked 206th in the world at the start of the week, Koivun exhibited little nervousness when he began the final round with a three-shot lead. His approach on the first hole settled 17 inches from the hole for exactly the start he would have drawn up. He increased his lead to five shots when he buried an 11-footer for another birdie at the par-3 fourth hole. Perhaps the most telling moment of the day came at the ninth when Koivun faced a 15-foot par putt while Scheffler was starting to rattle the cage. No problem. Straight down.<\/p>\n
Ho hum.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think the putt on 9 might be the biggest putt I made all week,\u201d Koivun conceded. \u201cScoreboard was right there and I saw exactly how I stood. If I missed that, then I only had at 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kid painted a masterpiece. He really did.<\/p>\n
He hit 13 of 14 fairways and 15 greens in regulation in the final round and made every clutch putt he sized up. Never once did he look in trouble\u2014or look like he\u2019d be bothered if he did. Koivun wasn\u2019t just bogey-free on Sunday; he was par or better over his last 42 holes. Over 72 holes, the California native led the field for the week in strokes gained\/approach the green (+9.363) and total (+17.031).<\/p>\n
Scheffler, who probably sees 8-balls in his sleep because he always seems to find himself behind one after 36 holes, shot 15 under on the weekend that included a closing 63 for 22-under 262. Koivun equalled that after a third-round 61. Even when he chopped up the last hole with a 249-yard tee ball (shortest of the entire week), an adrenaline-fueled wedge and a week chip, he wouldn\u2019t relent. He rolled in the 14-foot par save and raised his putter as the ball found the cup. Koivun then punched the air and gave a double fist pump.<\/p>\n
Jackson Koivun is a PGA TOUR winner \ud83c\udfc6<\/p>\n
A moment the 21-year-old will never forget. pic.twitter.com\/gZzWU7KNHf<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cYou know, I played a great round of golf today,\u201d Koivun said with earnest frankness. And accuracy. \u201cDefinitely had some nerves coming down on 18. All throughout the crowd I kept hearing, \u2018Scottie\u2019s coming, Scottie\u2019s coming.\u2019 I just tried to tone that out and keep playing the golf I knew I could. Was able to find some good putts coming down the stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDepending on how Jackson played, I knew I was going to need a really low number,\u201d said Scheffler, who opened the season with a victory at The American Express but had to settle for a tour-leading 11th top 10 finish. \u201cI wanted to get something really low on the front nine and kind of put myself on the leaderboard. I didn\u2019t quite have that, I think I was only three under on the front so I wasn\u2019t able to really apply too much pressure early on.<\/p>\n \u201cOverall, it was a pretty solid week. Sometimes on these types of courses you can\u2019t really have too many off nines and I felt like for me this week, maybe back nine Friday and front nine Saturday kind of cost me, that little stretch.\u201d<\/p>\n Koivun\u2019s conquest has parallels to Matthew Wolff\u2019s victory in the inaugural edition of the 3M Open in 2019. Wolff also won in his third pro start after collecting the Jack Nicklaus Award a few months earlier. The difference is that Koivun\u2019s victory actually was a long time coming, even if it was his third start as a pro and 13th start in a tour event.<\/p>\n Andrew Wevers<\/p>\n As a freshman in 2024, Koivun swept all three player of the year awards\u2014the Nicklaus, Hogan and Haskins\u2014in leading Auburn to the Division I title. As a sophomore, he earned enough points to accept tour membership via the PGA Tour University Accelerated program, but he put that off to return to Auburn. Good move. He won six times, again captured all the player of the year awards and helped Auburn win another national championship.<\/p>\n In 2025, when he could have turned pro, Koivun started acting like one, anyway. He put together a stretch of four straight finishes of 11th or better, including two in the top five. You can\u2019t say he was due this early into his pro career, but Koivun definitely was ready to perform.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the PGA Tour is hard and it\u2019s 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,\u201d said Koivun who missed the cut in his pro debut but finished T-10 two weeks ago at the ISCO Championship. \u201cThese last three events have been definitely a little bit of a wake-up call getting back into the swing of things, but I\u2019m just excited with the way I played this week.\u201d<\/p>\n Excited. And determined. His mindset to succeed could be found on the words he had written on his glove. On the palm were the words \u201cconfidence\u201d and \u201ctrust.\u201d On the thumb, a place where he could see the word on every swing, was the word \u201cdominate.\u201d It\u2019s a habit that carried over from his college days.<\/p>\n David Berding<\/p>\n So, no real mystery where this precocious player intends to go. When he accepted the Nicklaus Award again this year at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, the tournament host advised Koivun and the winners in the other college divisions about the importance of the mental game. Koivun nodded knowingly hearing the Golden Bear\u2019s sage words.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve gotten a lot better over the past couple years of being able to beat guys with my mentality,\u201d Koivun said. \u201cSometimes I watch guys hit on the range and I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m the most talented out there, but if I can go out there and believe and use my brain to my advantage, then that\u2019s definitely kind of like a superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n Yeah. It kind of is. Confidence. Trust. Dominate. Remember those words.<\/p>\n Follow Golf Digest Middle East on social media<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Jackson-Koivun-3.jpg\")
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