Auburn golfer Jackson Koivun secured his 10th career tournament victory on April 14 at The Ford Collegiate, leading the top-ranked Tigers to a second-place finish.
Koivun birdied six of his last nine holes to force a playoff with Texas’ Christiaan Maas and clinched the win with another birdie on the first playoff hole. “All I can say is that I love to compete,” Koivun said. “I love to do whatever I can to get my name and that Auburn logo as high up the leaderboard as I can. I’m really happy with where we’re at heading into the postseason, and I know that all of us are going to give 110% as we chase down another national championship.”
The junior from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, finished at 13-under-par for the week, recording just four bogeys and leading the field with 17 birdies. He has now won five times in seven starts since January and becomes only the 21st player in NCAA golf history to reach double-digit career wins—a group that includes Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm, and Phil Mickelson.
Auburn finished runner-up behind No. 4 Texas, which claimed team honors at 43-under-par. The Tigers shot a combined score of 32-under-par and achieved victories over several ranked teams including LSU, Georgia Tech, Georgia, and Oklahoma this season. Their record against ranked opponents improved to .761.
“Five of six guys in the top 15 is pretty impressive,” said Tigers head coach Nick Clinard. “Tip of the cap to Texas, they played incredibly, but we’re taking away a lot of positives from this tournament too. We’re really happy with the work we’ve put in this season to be firing on all cylinders come postseason. From this point forward, rankings go out the window and championships are on the line.”
In addition to Koivun’s performance, Auburn had four other players finish in the top fifteen: Cayden Pope tied for sixth place; Billy Davis placed fourteenth; Josiah Gilbert and Logan Reilly tied for fifteenth; Jake Albert finished tied for thirty-sixth.
Auburn will next compete in the SEC Championship scheduled for April 22-26 at Seaside Golf Club on St. Simons Island.
