
Auburn's Jackson Koivun earns PGA Tour card after top-10 finish at NCAA Men's Golf Championship
Auburn's Jackson Koivun earns PGA Tour card after top-10 finish at NCAA Men's Golf Championship
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Drone flyover video of Omni La Costa North Course par-3 16th hole
Omni La Costa is hosting the NCAA mens and womens golf championships for a second year in a row. The North Course's 16th hole is the final par-3.
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.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


USA Today
35 minutes ago
- USA Today
20-year-old Aldrich Potgieter leads 2025 Rocket Classic after three rounds
The Rocket Classic will have a new champion this year. Two-time winner Cam Davis failed to make the weekend, and the play on Saturday, June 28, left a new name atop the leader board. In fact, there were a lot of new names up there after the third round at Detroit Golf Club. But the top golfer is a familiar name, at least this week, as 20-year-old Aldrich Potgieter was one of three golfers to card a 7-under 65 in the third round to take a two-stroke lead. Potgieter, who held the DGC course record for a little under 24-hours after his first-round 62, is in position to grab his first PGA Tour victory. Then again, the field is tight at the top — 19 other golfers are within four strokes of second place — which could make for a wild Sunday finish. EAGLES SOARING: Round 3: Davis Thompson pulls off amazing feat in just 8 holes Aldrich Potgieter goes low again Potgieter may have been the surprise of the tournament with his late surge on Thursday, but he's proving himself a leader now. The South African surged on the front nine Saturday, delivering six birdies in the first eight holes. Potgieter's surge hasn't been just beginner's luck, either. Despite a down second round in which he only shot a 2-under 70, he rebounded Saturday with a series of excellent hits. His third shot on No. 1, from the greenside bunker, dropped in from 35 feet out, and he only improved from there. Potgieter hit five straight birdies on Nos. 4-8, then added his seventh birdie of the round on No. 13. While Potgieter's driving has always been his strong suit, his putting was strong Saturday, with 2.569 strokes gained putting. 'I was rolling a lot of good putts out there,' Potgieter said. 'A lot of them dropped, putts that I didn't think were going to drop. … That front nine really helped me to get through. A lot of par saves on this back nine. I felt like I had to stay in it, dig deep to get through that. Didn't birdie the par-5s, which is unfortunate, but should be a good day tomorrow.' Potgieter's only previous professional win came on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2024. A final round like Saturday's might change that. LOOKING AHEAD: Rocket Classic's future unclear past 2026, but 'signature' status on PGA Tour isn't a goal The field is close behind Potgieter has plenty of competition nipping at his heels, with five players tied for second at 17-under, three tied for seventh at 16-under and three tied for 10th at 15-under. 'It's quite different as an ammie playing in a big event,' Potgieter said. 'The leaderboard's so stacked. When you're looking at amateur golf, a lot of guys are up there but there might be two or three guys within two or three shots. Here there's six or seven. The guys are just really good out here. So it's going to play different tomorrow with that wind so we'll have to go and do the best we can and hit the golf shot in front of us.' Jake Knapp, who took over Potgieter's course record on Friday with an 11-under 61, grabbed a spot in the second-place logjam with a 6-under 66 Saturday, dropping in seven birdies (and a bogey on 11) to stay close. Knapp on No. 15 came inches away from sinking a 42-foot putt for a deuce. He settled for par on the tap-in. There were a few other near-misses; the most notable came on the par-4 No. 12, where his second shot, a wedge from 126 yards, rolled to about 4 inches from the stick. He tapped in for the birdie. Turning a few of those birdies into eagles on a mostly friendly course could shoot Knapp into the lead. Meanwhile, Max Greyserman returned to his hot ways on Saturday. He opened with a a 9-under 63 Thursday before shooting just par on Friday. During his third round, Greyserman was on point, hitting six birdies and an eagle — on No. 7 after burying an 11-foot putt — for a 66 to get to 17-under. Greyserman turned pro in 2017 but has yet to win on Tour. He has, however, come in second five times. He's hoping to avoid that outcome on Sunday. 'I don't think I need to do too much differently,' Greyserman said. 'Obviously I had three seconds last year. I haven't played well this year, but doing a lot of things well, just kind of haven't been at the top of the board. You can finish second different ways, right? You could be ahead, lose the lead. You could finish second in a distant and have no chance. I've done all those seconds and I had that experience. I have that experience going into tomorrow, so rely on that, knowing that I'm playing well, got a good team around me, so I'm excited for tomorrow.' CARLOS MONARREZ: Enjoy Rocket Classic drama but make sure you appreciate Collin Morikawa's authenticity Collin Morikawa heating up Morikawa, who started the Rocket with some media-relations drama and a first-round 69, followed his Round 2 64 with a 4-under 68, putting him at 15-under, well within striking range. Still, the World No. 5 (entering the tournament) squandered several opportunities to take the lead and heads into the final round tied for tenth. Putting on the back nine was a particular issue for Morikawa. One particularly notable moment came on No. 12. A solid drive and wedge shot put Morikawa on the green with the opportunity to take the lead at 16-under. It was a downhill shot about 14 feet from the hole, but makeable. Instead, Morikawa missed it wide left by a good margin, leaving himself a 2-foot putt for par and prompting one commentator to call it the 'worst putt he's hit today.' Just after Morikawa's miss, Potgieter took the lead at 16-under; Morikawa had a chance to keep pace with him on 13, following a wedge shot that put him about 5½ feet from the hole. But his putt again slid wide left and he settled for a par. On 14, his missed a birdie putt from 15 feet out. He then bogeyed No. 15 despite getting on the green in one shot, 35 feet out; he triple-putted, leaving the first shot about 4 feet off and then missing wide to set up a 3-footer for the bogey. His putting improved after that, but the damage was done, as Morikawa ended the day four shots back.


USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
PGA Tour leaderboard: Rocket Classic 2025 final round live updates, tee times, how to watch
South Africa's Aldrich Potgieter wasn't alive to witness the first eight major victories of the legendary Tiger Woods' career. He's 20 years old, born in September 2004. He's also the longest hitter on the PGA Tour and enters Sunday at the 2025 Rocket Classic with a two-stroke lead. But right behind him is a six-way tie for second, featuring the likes of Jake Knapp and Chris Kirk. Scoring conditions look to be perfect, so expect another birdie party in Detroit on Sunday. Follow along for live updates, scores, highlights, tee times and more from Sunday's final round of the 2025 Rocket Classic. Rocket Classic 2025 leaderboard Stay up-to-date with every score being carded in Detroit with our 2025 Rocket Classic leaderboard from USA TODAY Sports. Here's what it looked like at the top heading into Sunday's final round. What's the weather forecast for Sunday at the Rocket Classic? Sunday looks like another perfect day for golf, much like Saturday. High temperatures in the mid-80s are expected with sunny conditions and light winds at 5-10 mph from the south. No rain is in the forecast. Expect some more low scores today. Rocket Classic 2025 betting odds Here's a look at the betting odds heading into Sunday's final round, courtesy of BetMGM. How to watch the final round of the 2025 Rocket Classic How much money does the winner get at the 2025 Rocket Classic? The total purse for the 2025 Rocket Classic is $9.6 million, with $1.728 million going to the winner addition to 500 FedEx Cup points. Who won the Rocket Classic last year? Australia's Cam Davis was the champion at Detroit Country Club in 2024 with a finish score of 18 under. Davis also won this event in 2021. Other past champions include Rickie Fowler (2023), Tony Finau (2022) and Bryson DeChambeau (2020).
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
How will Amari Williams and Max Shulga help the Boston Celtics?
How will Amari Williams and Max Shulga help the Boston Celtics? The Celtics of course picked up Williams and Shulga in the second round with the Nos. 46 and 57 picks of the 2025 NBA Draft, respectively. What do the University of Kentucky big man and Virginia Commonwealth University guard bring to Boston that will help them next season and beyond in their hunt for Banner 19? The hosts of the CLNS Media "How Bout Them Celtics!" podcast, Jack Simone and Sam LaFrance, took a closer look at the game of each of these newest Boston draft picks at the NCAA level. They share their thoughts on what each of the two incoming rookies have going for them with their existing games as well as what else they could add to their play to secure a spot in the league. Advertisement Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear what they had to say about what Williams and Shulga have to offer the Celtics. If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network: This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: How will Amari Williams and Max Shulga help the Celtics?