Golf world, meet Jackson Koivun.
If you don’t pay any attention to amateur golf or only focus on the major championships, you might not have ever heard of him before his dominant win at the 3M Open last week in Minnesota.
But for the last four years, Koivun put together one of the best collegiate golf careers we have ever seen. According to the DataGolf index, the Auburn Tiger had the best amateur career of anyone since 2010, surpassing players like Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Rodgers.
And he didn’t take any time getting used to professional golf.
Even as an amateur, Koivun looked prepared for the PGA Tour. He had three consecutive top-10 finishes on Tour as an amateur last year. And while he missed the cut in his pro debut at this summer’s John Deere Classic, he followed that up with a T10 in Kentucky before the win at TPC Twin Cities in his third professional start.
While the 3M is usually one of the weaker tournaments on the Tour schedule, Koivun did have to deal with a tough situation on Sunday—the No. 1 player in the world chasing him down on a Sunday with thousands of fans cheering him on.
Koivun didn’t waver. He missed one fairway and three greens on his way to a 66 to win by three over Scottie Scheffler. On Saturday, he closed with a 28 on the back nine to take control of the tournament.
He looks like the real deal. I’m trying not to set the expectations too high, but Koivun’s ceiling is very high.
Koivun has the type of game to stick around
There have been plenty of other hyped amateurs to come up in recent years.
An example would be Luke Clanton from Florida State, who had a magical run when trying to get his card. But he’s struggled mightily this season and has not lived up to expectations so far.
Other recent top amateurs like Gordon Sargent have failed to make a mark at all. Ludvig Aberg has become one of the better players in the world, but even he has disappointed compared to what some expected of him after his first year on Tour.
After seeing Koivun’s victory, I couldn’t help but think of the 2019 3M Open. Matthew Wolff won an incredible tournament over Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau in a showdown with some of the brightest young stars in the game. Wolff’s career has not developed like many thought after that win. Morikawa went on to quickly win two majors and, while he has struggled to maintain a top level of play in some years, he certainly has lived up to expectations overall.
Morikawa is an interesting comparison for Koivun in my opinion. Both are of smaller statures and don’t possess elite distance off the tee. But they are very accurate and are elite iron players.
But that brings us to an important part: Koivun is known by his peers as an incredible putter. We heard Billy Horschel say he may be the best putter he’s ever seen at this stage of a career.
In modern days, it’s rare to see accomplished amateurs come up with such polish on the greens. It’s much more common to see crazy ball speed numbers and volatile iron play. Koivun has putted it well in almost every start on the Tour, and he’s also in the top 10 of total driving nearly every week.
That’s a formula that can stick. This doesn’t look like a flash in the pan or someone who is set to go through a ton of tumultuous stretches.
Koivun has a big year ahead of him
Just like that, Koivun will play in all of the majors next year and has a decent chance to qualify for many of the signature events.
While some are already saying he deserves a spot on the Presidents Cup team, he has plenty of time to impress for a 2027 Ryder Cup spot, too. Like we mentioned last week, we’re about to have zero current major champions in their 20s. I’d personally bet that Koivun, just 21 years old, has the best opportunity to kill that trend.
If there’s one area he needs to improve, it would be his scrambling. His early strokes gained around the green numbers have been average at best. But it hasn’t been overly concerning given how accurate he has been tee-to-green.
The other knock from some on social media seems to be about Koivun’s swing. Technically, it’s a lovely swing that stays on plane and creates highly repetitive ball striking. But the classic response is the worries about back issues.
It’s a bit of a hyper-dramatic complaint. Will Zalatoris is the reference point for this, as his impact point has some similarities. But we see plenty of swings with the dip-at-impact trait that have been fine. For example, Open Champion Ryan Fox has a similar spine angle at impact. We’ve also seen some of the smoothest swings of all time still have back issues, like Fred Couples and Louis Oosthuizen.
Point being, we have no idea what Koivun’s future looks like with his health. More than likely, he’ll be fine. Today’s players are highly athletic and train to produce impressive swings like his.
I have very, very high expectations for Koivun—probably too high. I haven’t been this impressed by someone’s game since Scheffler won the Korn Ferry Tour points race in 2019 and, before that, Justin Thomas or Hideki Matsuyama.
But we know things get even more difficult when you get to the top.
Koivun’s accuracy from tee-to-green and poised putting sets him up for long-term success. I personally believe we have the next long-term challenger for Scheffler at the top of the world.
Top Photo Caption: Jackson Koivun is already a PGA Tour winner. (GETTY IMAGES/Andrew Wevers)
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