Sometimes you can just tell with certain young players, can’t you? They have that X factor about them, and Jackson Koivun is clearly one of them.
Koivun is currently sitting tied for second place at the Procore Championship heading into the weekend, and it will be fascinating to see how he fares against experienced heads like Russell Henley and even Ben Griffin to an extent.
Griffin leads the tournament on 14-under par, but Koivun will have genuine ambitions of catching him over the course of the next two rounds.
PGA Tour players and caddies have been saying Koivun is the real deal and in fairness, that’s pretty obvious to see already.
Koivun is quite clearly ready to take the PGA Tour by storm, and his elite mentality is a sign that he will make it all the way to the top of the game.
What Jackson Koivun told Russell Henley before shooting 66 at the Procore Championship
The 20-year-old’s second-round of six-under par 66 at the Silverado Resort included a tee shot on 14 that sailed out of bounds.
In typical Koivun style, though, he still managed to make a bogey on that hole.
The world number one amateur will now play in the second-to-last group on Saturday alongside Ryder Cup star and US Open champion J.J. Spaun.
Koivun’s confidence shone through brightly when he addressed the media after day two on Friday, when asked if he set himself any immediate targets before his round.
He said: “Yeah, I ran into Russell Henley on the range and told him I was going to catch him, so that was my objective.
“He’s from Columbus, Georgia, so he comes into Auburn every so often. He lives in Columbus, so we play a little bit of golf here and there, so I’ve gotten to know him pretty well.
“I think we’re tied. We’ll have a little internal match going these next two days.“
Jackson Koivun ranks statistically at the Procore Championship
Koivun has not looked out of place one little bit during the Procore Championship this week.
In fact, he has more than held his own in every single PGA Tour event he has played so far.
This week at the Procore represented his seventh made cut in nine PGA Tour tournaments.
Here is how he’s ranked in relation to the rest of the field after two days in Napa Valley:
| Stats | Koivun’s rank after two rounds |
| Strokes gained off the tee | 45 |
| Strokes gained approach | 1 |
| Strokes gained around the green | 56 |
| Strokes gained putting | 10 |
| Strokes gained total | T-2 |
As per usual, Koivun’s iron play has been truly sensational during two rounds of the Procore Championship.
If he can find a way to brush up on his driving and chipping on day three, while maintaining his strong iron play and putting, he will undoubtedly have a chance to win on Sunday.
If Koivun does manage to reign supreme at the Procore Championship, he will become only the fourth amateur golfer to win a PGA Tour event since 1956 after Scott Verplank, Phil Mickelson and Nick Dunlap achieved the feat in 1985, 1991 and 2024 respectively.
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