Jackson Koivun broke through fast, and this was only the beginning

Golf loves a slow burn, but Jackson Koivun skipped that part entirely. The 21-year-old Auburn product turned pro after the U.S. Open in June and needed just 13 PGA Tour starts to win, closing out the 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities with Scottie Scheffler breathing down his neck the entire back nine.

Koivun was never really a mystery to anyone who follows college golf. He left Auburn as an 11-time winner, the most in program history and tied for the most in SEC history, with a career scoring average that broke the NCAA record. He was the first man ever to win the sport's three biggest amateur player-of-the-year awards twice. The only question was how fast that would translate. Turns out: instantly.

Sunday's final round was Koivun going full control mode, then Scheffler doing what Scheffler does and making him sweat every bit of it. Koivun built a cushion, Scheffler caught fire with a 63, and for a stretch it looked like the rookie might get run down by the best player alive.

Fore Play

@ForePlayPod

Scottie with a Sunday 63. Koivun’s lead is 2 with 3 to play.

That's when Koivun answered. He birdied again to push the lead back to 3 with 2 to play, the kind of response that separates a flash-in-the-pan from an actual closer.

Fore Play

@ForePlayPod

Another birdie. Three shot lead, two to play. This kid is a stud.

He held on to win at 25-under, a tournament record, and $1,584,000, according to PGA Tour reporting, jumping 124 spots in the FedExCup standings into the last Playoff position with two regular-season events left. Not bad for a guy who was still playing college golf two months ago.

Koivun celebrated the way you'd hope a 21-year-old from Minnesota-adjacent glory would: fishing in the pond off the 18th green at TPC Twin Cities. It's the kind of low-key, no-fuss moment that fits a player who's spent his career quietly stacking accolades instead of chasing attention.

Fore Play

@ForePlayPod

Jackson Koivun celebrated his first PGA Tour win by fishing in one of the ponds at the TPC Twin Cities. Hell yeah.

The 13-starts framing is the number that's going to follow him around now, and it should. It puts him in rare company for how fast a debut win came, and with a game built for major championship golf, this almost certainly isn't the last time people are doing that math on him.