SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. – Thirty years ago, Tiger Woods would drive to what was then 7580 Commerce Center Drive in Orlando, Florida, enter through a side door at Golf Channel HQ and duck into an editing booth to review video of past Open Championships.
Jackson Koivun has been called the best amateur since Woods and, perhaps unbeknownst to him, has employed a similar, more modern manner of major preparation.
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Koivun, who announced Friday that he will turn pro after this championship, is making his second U.S. Open start this week at Shinnecock Hills. Before arriving at the course, he did some video reconnaissance.
“I watched some YouTube videos from 2018 to see some lines and stuff,” he said Monday in his pre-championship press conference.
“But I got out here pretty early this week, trying to figure out start lines off the tees and where my misses are and kind of go from there. Just doing a lot of chipping and putting work, but understanding that the golf course is going to change some Thursday.”
Koivun was 13 the last time Shinnecock hosted the national championship. Before becoming a two-time national champion and multiple player of the year at Auburn, he was a driven junior, watching pros fail in spectacular ways during the ’18 U.S. Open.
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“I just remember it looked really hard. Obviously, guys are hitting moving balls on the green, it’s dicey,” Koivun said, in reference to Phil Mickelson swatting a runaway ball on the 13th green in Round 3.
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When it comes to desire to be No. 1, Tour’s next prodigy Jackson Koivun has never been quiet
Nine days after leading Auburn to its second NCAA Championship, Koivun, 21, revealed to the world that he intends to turn professional and bypass his final year of college eligiblity. It’s a decision over a year in the making and a dream that’s been around much longer.
“You watch some guys just hit some shots in places, and when you’re younger, it’s easier to say, well, how did he do that? Now you come out here, and you’re like, OK, well, that makes a lot more sense now.”
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This is U.S. Open No. 2 for Koivun, who shot 72-76 to miss the cut last year at Oakmont. The two venues are vastly different in design but equally difficult, both adverse to red numbers.
Koivun, too, is not the same as he was in ’25. “Maturity,” he said, was the biggest difference between 20- and 21-year-old Jackson.
“I just gave myself another year to grow, grow as a human being, mentally and physically and everything like that,” he said.
That growth will be tested come Thursday. He’s already played 27 holes since Sunday and is trying to engrain a “par is good” philosophy.
Koivun is the world’s best amateur. For a few more days. And then he will no longer play with an ‘a’ next to his name. Asked Monday if he was feeling the looming pressure of professional life, “Not really,” he replied. “I’m just coming out here, trying to have fun and just enjoy it.”
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U.S. Open 2026: Ranking the entire field at Shinnecock, from No. 1 Scottie Scheffler to No. 156
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The U.S. Open is golf’s toughest and truest test, and here’s how each player in the field ranks in terms of their probability in passing it.
Read the full article here
