Who’s Jackson Koivun? Three facts about the Auburn men’s golf star

AUBURN — Auburn men’s golf has done little else than dominate the past two seasons. A first-ever national championship in 2024 is convincing enough, but so are a top overall national seed in this year’s championships, six top-100 nationally ranked golfers and repeat SEC Coach and Player of the year accolades.

The last of those — the Tigers’ two-time conference player of the year — has been Auburn’s most impressive in this stretch. And he’s not even an upperclassman.

Jackson Koivun, who exploded as a freshman last season, has torn through college golf in short time. Currently the No. 2 golfer in the nation, he has two wins and four top-three finishes across 13 events as a sophomore, totaling four wins and 12 top-threes in two years.

“He’s still 19 years old, even though as much success as he’s had, with back-to-back SECs and being Player of the Year last year, he’s still got a little ways to go,” Auburn coach Nick Clinard said of Koivun’s Year Two. “I think that’s the beauty of it, right? He’s not at the pinnacle of his career, and he hasn’t learned everything that he needs to know yet. But he’s a sponge, and he works like crazy.”

Ahead of Auburn’s NCAA regional this week, here are three facts to know about Koivun.

Why is Jackson Koivun Auburn men’s golf’s biggest star? Let the accolades explain.

Four wins and double-digit top-three finishes in two years shows how undeniably productive Koivun has been. But his successes have been recognized in the form of accolades, too.

Not only is he a back-to-back SEC Player of the Year, but he’s also won three different National Player of the Year awards. The Ben Hogan Award, Haskins Award and Jack Nicklaus Award all went to him in 2024, and he was also honored with the Phil Michelson Outstanding Freshman Award.

Koivun was the second freshman to ever win the Ben Hogan Award in its 34-year history. Some notable previous winners include Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm and Rickie Fowler, and previous Haskins Award-winners includes Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Stewart Cink.

Koivun has added additional honors to his trophy case this season, and he’s poised for more. After being named the 2024 SEC Championship individual winner, he notched the same achievement this season. He’s again been named a top-three finalist for this year’s Ben Hogan Award. Here’s a look at some of his other achievements.

• Jackson Koivun’s honors and awards: 2023-25
  • 2024-25
    • First Team All-SEC
    • Golf Channel First Team Preseason All-American
    • Golfweek First Team Preseason All-American
    • Hogan Award Semifinalist
    • Inverness Intercollegiate Individual Champion
    • Palmer Cup Team USA
    • SEC Golfer of the Week
  • 2023-24
    • First Team All-SEC (2024)
    • GCAA All-Freshman Team (2024)
    • NCAA Championship Individual Runner Up (2024)
    • Palmer Cup Team USA (2024)
    • Pinehurst Intercollegiate Individual Champion (2024)
    • PING First Team All-American (2024)
    • SEC All-Freshman Team (2024)
    • SEC Freshman of the Year
    • SEC Individual Champion (2024)
    • SEC Freshman of the Week (5x)
    • SEC Golfer of the Week (2x)

Does Jackson Koivun have a PGA Tour card? Here’s the latest.

Non-senior golfers are eligible to earn their PGA Tour card through the PGA TOUR University Accelerated program, making them eligible for full-field tour events.

Players earn points based on college, amateur and professional golf accomplishments, and can earn their tour membership with 20 points by the end of their third year of NCAA eligibility. Points are awarded for a variety of feats, including national awards, tournament wins and postseason appearances.

Currently? Koivun’s has 19 points, needing one more to secure a tour card. However, that doesn’t mean he’ll part from the Plains the second he earns it.

“He’s (Koivun) coming back to school,” Clinard said. “He knows that the lifestyle out there, it’s not all glitz and glamour, traveling so much and playing. He wants to make sure that he’s more so ready for that lifestyle, as much as his golf game is ready for it, too.”

Jackson Koivun shined long before joining Auburn men’s golf

As much as his game has grown on the Plains, Koivun didn’t arrive in Auburn as an under-the-radar prospect. He was a consensus top-three recruit, rated No. 1 in the 2023 class by the American Junior Golf Association and No. 3 by Golf Channel.

Koivun won before Auburn, too, taking the AJGA’s Tournament of Champions in 2022, and the Dustin Johnson World Juniors in 2023. He recorded three top-10 finishes before becoming a Tiger, at the Wyndham Invitational and Junior PLAYERS Championship in 2022, and the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley in 2023.

Koivun’s Auburn decision came after receiving offers from Duke, Illinois, North Carolina, Pepperdine, SMU, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. Six of those programs are currently ranked in the top 25.

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at acole@gannett.com or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.