For a sport with a reputation for moving slowly, golf always seems to be in a hurry to appoint the next big star.
Jackson Koivun is next on the list and certainly worth watching.
It's not just because he won a PGA Tour event — which included the No. 1 player in the world — just two months after leaving college. Remember, it was only two years ago when Nick Dunlap won The American Express (Scottie Scheffler played that one, too) while he was a sophomore
at Alabama.
Different about Koivun is that he carried the expectations of being the No. 1 amateur in the world. He won six times in college, swept all the awards as the best player, led Auburn to another NCAA title and last year had three straight top-10 finishes in PGA Tour events without ever looking as though the moment was too big.
And then in his third start as a pro, Koivun shot 61 on Saturday in the 3M Open after Scheffler had set the target, and then held off Scheffler and everyone else with a 66 and a three-shot victory.
That he played bogey-free on the weekend — only three other PGA Tour winners this year have done that — speaks to his poise. There's also the three words he writes on his golf glove — confidence, trust, dominate. That last word he came up with at Auburn “because I just want to go see how good I can play.”
He can play.
So where does he go now? For starters, the Rocket Classic this week in Detroit.
Koivun, who earned his card a year ago as the No. 1 player in the PGA Tour University accelerated program for underclassmen, moved to No. 70 in the FedEx Cup with his victory at the 3M Open. Two tournaments remain for the top 70 to qualify for the postseason. That would be impressive.
But that's not enough. There already is chatter about Koivun being an option for Brandt Snedeker to take as a captain's pick for the Presidents Cup in September.
The notion would seem to follow Europe (never a bad idea when it comes to a cup) when Ludvig Aberg of Sweden was No. 1 in the PGA Tour University ranking in 2023. He didn't win until his ninth start as a pro — at the European Masters in Switzerland — but the polish and power were so evident that Luke Donald put him on the Ryder Cup team in Italy.
The idea was to take a player expected to be on many teams for many years and give him a taste of team competition early, especially a home game. It worked out well for Aberg, who went 2-2 in Rome, and ended the year matching the PGA Tour scoring record (253) to win at Sea Island.
The Presidents Cup is nothing like the Ryder Cup, of course. The greatest value would be getting comfortable in a team environment — although Koivun did play in the Walker Cup at Cypress Point last September — and getting phone numbers for group chats with players he still hasn't met.
Picking someone so raw wouldn't be all that unusual on the American side.
Jordan Spieth won his first PGA Tour event at age 19 — he started the year without a card and won in his 15th start as a pro — and he was picked for the 2013 Presidents Cup. Spieth qualified for the postseason and in the second playoff event in Boston shot a 62 on the final day. That led Phil Mickelson to text U.S. captain Fred Couples, “Dude, you've got to pick this guy.”
He did, and Spieth played on nine of the next 10 U.S. teams. Two years after that pick, Spieth won the Masters and U.S. Open, had a chance at all four majors and reached No. 1 in the world.
Is that the road awaiting Koivun? He clearly has the game and can handle the stage.
Even so, golf is best viewed with a wide lens.
There was another California native once looked upon as golf's next big thing. Matthew Wolff had enormous power and a knack for big moments, leading Oklahoma State to the NCAA title in 2018 and then crushing the field the next year to win the NCAA individual title, one of six college wins.
Wolff turned pro and won the 3M Open in his third start in 2019, making eagle on the final hole to beat Bryson DeChambeau and Collin Morikawa. Wolff finished No. 70 in the FedEx Cup in just six starts, but he lasted only one playoff event.
The Presidents Cup had four captain's picks in 2019 (Tiger Woods used one of them on himself for Royal Melbourne) and Wolff was a never a big part of the conversation.
One year later, Wolff had the 54-hole lead in the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot and was on the verge of veritable stardom until DeChambeau raced past him to win. Within six months, Wolff was struggling with expectations and mental health issues. And then in 2022, he was off to LIV Golf.
Aberg has taken his lumps along the way — he has won just once since that blazing start right out of Texas Tech. Morikawa, who won in his sixth start as a pro, had two majors a little more than two years after leaving Cal. Scheffler was part of that age group and took nearly four years to win. And then he didn't stop winning.
“I had a decent college career, but by no means was I a can’t-miss type of prospect,” Scheffler said.
Koivun fits that mold. He had a great college career. He already has the hype and he already has a trophy. It will be fascinating to see where he goes, how quickly he gets there, how long he lasts.
Give it time.
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On The Fringe analyzes the biggest topics in golf during the season. AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
