Jackson Koivun had a bunch of reasons to remain an amateur in 2025-26 after having the opportunity to jump to the PGA Tour a year ago. Tops among them were playing for the U. S. in last fall’s Walker Cup at Cypress Point, and entries into this summer’s U. S. open and Open Championship if he didn’t turn pro. All incredible opportunities, to be sure.
But there was one goal that might have weighed on him most of all: leading his auburn team to another national championship. It all felt like the right move on an overcast afternoon, 2,000 miles from campus in Alabama, in north San Diego, as Koivun dominated his match and two Tigers freshmen scored points as No. 1-ranked Auburn dominated 23rd-ranked UCLA and beat the Bruins 4-1.
koivun and two freshmen, Logan Reill and Jake Gilbert, earned the decisive points for Auburn, which won its first title of the match-play era two years ago when the tournament was staged for the first time at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. Rounding out the Tigers championship squad were junior Cayden Pope and freshman Josiah Gilbert, who were winning and losing their matches, respectively, when the deciding third point was scored. Freshman Josh Kim secured the only point for UCLA, which made a strong and surprising run through the match play with victories over Texas and Arizona after the Bruins won the Big Ten Championship.“It’s been one hell of a ride with this team this year,” Koivun said.
“We’re a pretty good group of guys, and we like to have a lot of fun.”The victory caps what likely will be the end of an incredible college career for koivun, who is finishing up his junior year He won six tournaments in a season that has been statistically rated as among the best ever, and the honors keep rolling in Koivun joinied Jon Rahm and Ludvig Aberg as the only multiple winners of the Ben Hogan Award, and he earned the Fred Haskins Award for a second time.
Next comes the decision–and it is expected to come quickly–about the timing of when Koivun will turn pro. He continues to be the top-ranked player in the Official World Golf Rankings, and he earned his PGA tour card last year through points in the University Accelerated Program. He already has four top-11 finishes in six starts while playing in tour events.
Koivun, 21, didn’t have the best championship in stroke play, tying for 10th, seven strokes behind winner and World No. 3 Preston stout of Oklahoma State. But after losing his quarterfinals match in Auburn’s win over Stanford, Koivin prevailed 1 up in an epic showdown with Stout.
That seemed to flip the switch on his confidence, and on Wednesday, Koivun steadily made four birdies and never trailed in beating UCLA’s Baylor Larrabee 4 and 3.“I played really, really solid,” Koivun said. “I didn’t really give him too many open doors. I just put myself fairways and greens and just hopefully my putter heats up.
It’s been a little cold all week, but I started making some good putts coming in. As for the Auburn team, there has been a mantra that the golfers speak of and live by. The longest season of any college sport doesn’t start in the first match in the fall, but well before summer ends.
A well-communicated and organized culture clearly exists at Auburn, and head coach Nick Clinard was asked on Wednesday what makes it special.“A lot of work,” he said, “especially with the freshmen. I think I text them at night, I’ll be you at 2 a.m. and they might not like it all of the time. It’s work with their swing coaches and short-game coaches and just trying to manage it.
And just to help all of these guys be the very best they can be as a person and as a golfer.”
