Why Auburn's Jackson Koivun would wait to turn pro if he earns PGA Tour card Monday
Why Auburn's Jackson Koivun would wait to turn pro if he earns PGA Tour card Monday
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Drone flyover video of Omni La Costa North Course par-4 15th hole
Omni La Costa is hosting the NCAA mens and womens golf championships for a second year in a row. The North Course's 15th hole is a challenging par 4.
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Jackson Koivun can earn his PGA Tour card on Monday. If he did, he could play on the PGA Tour in two weeks as a full-time member.
The sophomore at Auburn sits at 19 points in the PGA Tour University Accelerated, one away from earning a PGA Tour card. The caveat? Koivun is going to lock up that point in the next couple of weeks anyway. When he tees it up at the Arnold Palmer Cup next month at Congaree, he will have his PGA Tour card and be able to take up membership after his junior season.
Or, he could finished in the top 10 at the 2025 NCAA Men's Golf Championship on Monday and lock up his card now, giving him the ability to turn pro after the championship, joining Luke Clanton and Gordon Sargent as college players turning pro thanks to PGA Tour U Accelerated.
"I've been thinking about it a little bit," Koivun said. "I think it's definitely a little easier on the mind knowing that it's kind of already there, but it would be cool with the top 10 this week to finally get that. It's kind of been weighing on me for a while now, but at the end of the day, I know I'm going to get it and just trying to go play golf and try to represent Auburn."
Koivun finished T-2 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa last year, a fitting end to a dominant freshman campaign that saw him win the Fred Haskins Award, Ben Hogan Award and Jack Nicklaus Award. This year, he has three victories, including his second straight SEC Championship and the NCAA Auburn Regional on his home course.
In the fall of 2023, Vanderbilt's Sargent earned his 20th point but deferred turning pro and returned for his senior season. Clanton didn't have a point in Accelerated a year ago but earned his 20th in February, making the cut at his hometown event in Florida. They'll both make their professional debuts in two weeks at the RBC Canadian Open.
With a top 10 Sunday, Koivun would earn his card and be able to join Clanton and Sargent, but that's not the plan.
"I'll be going back to Auburn," Koivun said Sunday after a 1-under 71 in the third round of the NCAA Championship, where he sits T-7 after the morning wave. The plan was always to return to Auburn, which he helped win its first national championship last year. After three rounds, the Tigers are in first and a virtual lock to make match play, which begins Tuesday.
Koivun never wavered even as he racked up points and came close to securing his card. He said he spoke a bit with Clanton and Sargent about the pressure of chasing the card and accomplishing the feat like they did.
"The easiest thing to do is just try to put it as far out of your mind as you can," he said. "This game is full of stress, and at the end of the day, anything we can do to take stress off of us and just go play freely is great."
Come Monday, there could be a ceremony to celebrate his accomplishment. But his future is on the plains at least one more year, and Koivun and the Tigers' focus the rest of the week is on trying to go back-to-back.
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USA Today
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an hour ago
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Potgieter attended the Louis Oosthuizen Junior Golf Academy before his family moved to Australia at a young age. At age 17, Potgieter won the 2022 British Amateur Championship, becoming the second youngest winner in the history of the championship. He turned professional in 2023 and became the youngest winner in Korn Ferry Tour history by winning The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic in 2024, at age 19. At 20 years, 9 months, 16 days on Sunday, he would become the seventh-youngest PGA Tour winner since the start of 1983, and would become the youngest Tour winner from South Africa since 1983, surpassing Garrick Higgo, who was 22 years, 1 month, 1 day old when he won the 2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree. Bombs away Potgieter isn't just long off the tee – he's the longest player on Tour. The 5-foot-10-inch, 210-pound South African leads all players in driving distance this season at 326.6, or a full six yards longer than No. 2 in the standings Rory McIlroy, and is 26 yards longer than the Tour average. Potgieter also led the Korn Ferry Tour in Driving Distance in 2024 'I think it just kind of came naturally. I haven't done too much to get the distance that I got, it's just kind of been given to me. So happy with it, and just trying to control it, that's kind of the big thing we're trying to work on,' he said this week. 'Kind of did everything as a kid, didn't just focus on golf, so that kind of helped me build that strong foundation at the start, and I think that happened at the right time during my growth spurt that it helped me a lot.' Thanks to his with at the British Amateur, Potgieter earned an invitation to the 2023 Masters, where he was paired in the first two rounds with past champion Charl Schwartzel, who said of Potgieter's prodigious length: "It's incredible how far the guy hits the ball. It's scary." An ace that was wild Schwartzel wasn't joking about Potgieter's length. But for further proof, it's worth re-telling the story of the 2023 John Deere Classic Monday qualifier at Pinnacle Country Club in Milan, Illinois. Potgieter not only drove the green at the 403-yard, par-4 17th hole, but his drive found the bottom of the cup for a rare ace on a par 4. He didn't see the ball go into the hole and had no idea it was in until his caddie in the fairway ahead of him lost his mind. Close but no cigar Potgieter has been in position to win after 54 holes before on the PGA Tour this season. He stood solo third at 7 under through three rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open, two shots back of 54-hole leader Harris English. But the weather turned ugly and he didn't handle it well, tumbling to a 78 and T-15 finish. He fared better when he held the 54-hole lead at the Mexico Open in February. His short game was a bit spotty but he managed to post a final-round 71 to force a playoff with Brian Campbell. On the second playoff hole, Campbell hit a tee shot that was veering out of bounds, but his ball hit a tree and bounced back into play. Campbell then birdied the hole to defeat Potgieter and claim the title. Potgieter missed seven of his next eight cuts after his runner-up finish, but finished T-6 in his most recent start at the Charles Schwab Challenge. For the season, the rookie entered the week having made just four cuts in 13 starts. He entered the week 73rd in the season-long FedEx Cup race and 123rd in the Official World Golf Ranking. Mentored by a champion Potgieter began to put American golf fans on notice of his abilities by winning the 2023 Junior Invitational at Sage Valley and competing on the 2022 Junior Presidents Cup team in Charlotte. In the latter, past Players Championship winner and two-time Tour champion Tim Clark served as captain of the International Team. Clark, a fellow South African, had spoken on the phone to the talented junior golfer but that week marked their first time meeting. Potgieter made a point to sit next to Clark every day on the team bus and soaked up as much knowledge from Clark as possible. Clark later welcomed Potgieter to his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, in early 2024, shortly after he failed to earn his Tour card at Final Stage of Q-School. 'I do believe this was a good thing for him in a way, and it gives him a big appreciation for what a lot of people go through to become a professional golfer,' Clark told PGA in 2024. Clark, who will be eligible for PGA Tour Champions next season after turning 50 in December, has continued to be a mentor figure for Potgieter. Perhaps a phone call ahead of Sunday's final round in the Motor City may be just the thing to make sure all of Potgieter's pistons are firing as he pursues his maiden Tour title.
