Auburn’s Jackson Koivun secures PGA Tour card at NCAA Championship

CARLSBAD, Calif. — Jackson Koivun has job security down the road.

The sophomore at Auburn finished tied for fourth Monday after the stroke-play portion at the 2025 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa, and in the process he locked up his PGA Tour card via PGA Tour University Accelerated. The top-10 finish gave Koivun his 20th Accelerated point, enough to earn his card.

He joins Gordon Sargent and Luke Clanton as the only players to earn their card via Accelerated. Koivun will defer his card until 2026 after his junior season.

“It feels good to go out and earn it by playing some golf, and what better place to do it than when you’re surrounded by all your friends and teammates at the national championship,” Koivun said. “I love Auburn, and I think college golf is in such a good spot right now. I feel like it’s going to continually prepare me for the PGA Tour.”

Koivun’s path to the PGA Tour started as a freshman, when he swept all the national postseason awards and helped guide the Tigers to their first national championship in school history. He has also made three cuts over the past year on Tour, coming at the 2024 Memorial Tournament, 2025 Farmers Insurance Open and 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational.

This spring, Koivun was again a finalist for the Fred Haskins Award, the Heisman Trophy of college golf, and the Ben Hogan Award. He won his second consecutive SEC individual championship and then won the NCAA Auburn Regional before the T-4 finish at Omni La Costa, that coming on the heels of a T-2 finish at nationals as a freshman.

Koivun and the Tigers earned the No. 2 seed in match play, where it will face Virginia in the quarterfinals Tuesday.

He wasn’t the only player to lock up PGA Tour playing privileges Monday, as North Carolina senior David Ford finished first in the PGA Tour University Class of 2025 rankings to earn his PGA Tour card, too.