It was the end of the first day of the 2024 Memorial Tournament. An Auburn University freshman golfer made an even par score at the tough Muirfield Village Golf Club on Thursday. Little did he know that come Friday, he would shoot a 76 (+4) which, coupled with the first-round score, would allow him to make the cut at the signature event. Yes, that is exactly what Jackson Koivun did!

The 19-year-old managed to qualify himself tied at T45 for Moving Day by carding a total of four birdies, and four bogeys, not to mention the two double bogeys he scored. It is natural to, thus, be curious about the 2024 Jack Nicklaus Award winner who outperformed the likes of Wyndham Clark and Jordan Spieth, among many others.

Who is Jackson Koivun?

Jackson Koivun was born on May 23, 2005, in San Jose, California, to Meghan & George Koivun. The young athlete was introduced to the sport at a very young age by his dad. That push, however, made all the difference, as he subsequently went ahead to climb as high as No. 3 in the Amateur Golf Rankings. Thus, looking at his recent display of golf, one can’t help but believe the player when he claims to have beaten his dad in golf at the age of just seven.

The young phenom was able to emerge victorious at the 2024 SEC Championship by six shots and guided his team, Auburn, to its first national title by beating their opponents 7-0 victory. But that’s not all of his achievements. Koivun had also finished tied for T2 at the 2024 NCAA Men’s Individual Championship, not to mention a total of 12 top-6 finishes in 13 starts.

His impressive freshman year in 2024 with Auburn is now widely considered one of the best seasons in the history of collegiate golf. It is exactly this performance that helped Koivun card all four major collegiate awards in the same year, the first in history to do so (The Jack Nicklaus, Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan, and Phil Mickelson Awards). The Auburn player was also able to win the SEC Player of the Year and SEC Freshman of the Year awards.

While the golfer has slowly risen to prove himself to be nothing short of an inspiration to many aspiring athletes in the community, his inspiration lies elsewhere. The American player was all praise for 2023 Jack Nicklaus Award winner Ludvig Aberg as he chose to dish out compliments for the Swede ahead of the Memorial Tournament.

Koivun’s source of inspiration; Ludvig Aberg

“Ludvig’s a great player,” added the teenager ahead of the signature event before pointing out the Swede’s achievements, “He’s done so much for not only professional golf but for college golf, kind of opening the eyes for patrons and the PGA Tour of how good these collegiate guys are.” The 24-year-old had, back in 2023 become the sixth player in the history of college golf to win the Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, and Fred Haskins Award. “He kind of inspires me that shows that he’s put his name on some of these awards that I’ve won, and I can go do what he’s doing and just compete like him.”

The North Carolina native also didn’t shy away from speaking his mind when it came to the 2023 RSM Classic champ’s effect on the men’s circuit; “With PGA Tour, you know, I think that’s just going to keep growing opportunities for guys like me, and even younger, that there’s going to be more opportunities coming through with that program because of guys like that.” Well, it seems the golfer is all set in his mind to leave a mark at a young age, just like his idol, Aberg. And the community will surely be eager to witness his rise in the sport.