Star amateur Jackson Koivun will turn pro after U.S. Open

Auburn's Jackson Koivun will turn pro later this summer. (Tanner Pearson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)Tanner Pearson via Getty ImagesJackson Koivun, one of the most decorated amateurs in U.S. golf history, announced Friday morning that he will forgo his senior season at Auburn and turn pro later this summer. Koivun will play in next week’s U.S. Open as an amateur, then join the PGA Tour beginning with the 2026 John Deere Classic in early July.

>Koivun leaves Auburn as a two-time national champion, three-time SEC champion, and holder of multiple university and individual records. He’s the beneficiary of the PGA Tour’s Accelerated program, which offers Tour membership to collegiate players who accumulate points through various honors and achievements. Koivun amassed enough points to turn pro after his sophomore year, but elected to remain with Auburn for another season, and helped lead the Tigers to another national championship this year.

>“I’m grateful to everyone at Auburn University for giving me the most incredible college experience I could’ve ever imagined,” Koivun said in a statement. “From bringing home a pair of national championships to the late nights and early mornings grinding at the facility and competing alongside guys I’ll call brothers for the rest of my life, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. ”

> Koivun won 11 tournaments while at Auburn, the best in program history, tied for the best in SEC history, and tied for seventh in overall NCAA history. He’s won all three national player of the year awards (Haskins, Hogan, Nicklaus) twice; he did so in his freshman year, and again this season. His single-season scoring average of 68.20 and career scoring average of 68.89 are both NCAA records.

> Per DataGolf, his true strokes-gained average already ranks 28th in the world, in the vicinity of Hideki Matsuyama and Shane Lowry, and ahead of Wyndham Clark and Akshay Bhatia, among others. His debut will be one of the most anticipated in recent memory.

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