“This is just the beginning”: 21-year-old Jackson Koivun wins 3M Open in third professional start
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BLAINE, Minn. -- Just 35 days after playing his final round as an amateur, 21-year-old Jackson Koivun captured his first PGA TOUR victory by winning the 2026 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities on Sunday. The Marshall Independent was on site to cover the historic moment.
In only his third start as a professional, Koivun became the eighth-youngest player to win the tournament and the second-youngest American to capture a PGA TOUR event by multiple strokes.
Koivun, who grew up in San Jose, California, before moving to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, at age 17, learned the game on a public nine-hole golf course. His ascent has been one of the fastest in golf this season.
Just one month after helping Auburn win the NCAA Championship, the former world No. 1 amateur earned low amateur honors at the U.S. Open before turning professional. It didn’t take long for him to make an impact on the PGA TOUR.
Reflecting on his first few weeks as a professional, Koivun said his previous sponsor exemptions helped prepare him for life on TOUR.
“Yeah, I mean, I know the PGA TOUR is hard and it’s very competitive, and fortunately enough I was able to get quite a few sponsor exemptions last summer to kind of get acquainted with the feeling of playing on the PGA TOUR,” he said. “These last three events have been definitely a little bit of a wake-up call getting back into the swing of things on the PGA TOUR, but I’m just excited with the way I played this week.”
Koivun finished the tournament at a record-setting 25-under-par 259, firing rounds of 64, 68, 61 and 66. He held off a field that included world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Hideki Matsuyama to secure his first professional victory.
“You know, I played a great round of golf today,” Koivun said. “Definitely had some nerves coming down 18. All throughout the crowd I kept hearing, ‘Scottie’s coming, Scottie’s coming.’ I just tried to tune that out and keep playing the golf I knew I could. I was able to make some good putts coming down the stretch.”
Scheffler gave fans plenty to cheer about with a final-round 8-under 63, briefly applying pressure to Koivun before settling for his fifth runner-up finish of the season.
Scottie Scheffler recaps his second place finish at TPC Twin Cities.
Four players finished tied for third at 20-under, underscoring just how dominant Koivun’s performance was over the four-day tournament.
Despite temperatures climbing to 97 degrees on Sunday, Koivun remained composed, carding his second consecutive bogey-free round to close out the victory.
After the round, Koivun admitted the magnitude of the moment began to sink in over the final few holes.
“I started to feel a little bit of nerves maybe on 15 or 16 because it started setting in that, OK, you can definitely do this and you’ve got some tough holes coming down the stretch,” he said. “I hadn’t particularly played 18 well except for yesterday, hadn’t hit the best drives. I didn’t really hit the best drive today, but it worked out. I think once I got that drive on 18 down there in the fairway, we definitely felt a little less pressure.”
The victory marked the fourth PGA TOUR win by a rookie this season and capped a rapid turnaround after Koivun missed the cut at the John Deere Classic before tying for 10th at the ISCO Championship earlier this month.
The win earned Koivun nearly $1.6 million and vaulted him 124 spots in the FedEx Cup standings to 70th--the final position currently qualifying for the FedEx Cup Playoffs--with just two regular-season events remaining.
“Anytime you’re trying to win for the first time, it’s awfully difficult, especially for a young guy coming out of college,” Scheffler said. “I think that shows not only how talented of a player he is, but the mental strength he has as well.”
Koivun closed by expressing his appreciation for the tournament that helped launch his professional career.
“I’ll be forever indebted to the 3M Open for helping me get my first PGA TOUR win,” he said.