Jackson Koivun earns 19th PGA TOUR U Accelerated point, could earn TOUR card with top-10 this weekend

ORLANDO, Fla. – Auburn sophomore Jackson Koivun could earn his PGA TOUR card by the end of the weekend.

Koivun made the cut Friday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard to earn his 19th point in the PGA TOUR University Accelerated program. The threshold to earn a PGA TOUR card is 20 points and Koivun can earn that clinching point with a top-10 finish at Bay Hill.

It would mark back-to-back weeks that a hotshot amateur earned their TOUR card through PGA TOUR University. Luke Clanton received his TOUR card after making the cut and notching his 20th Accelerated point at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.

"It feels great," Koivun said. "Kind of scrapped it around but was able to hang in there and put up a respectable number and get that 19th point feels good."

Koivun shot even-par 72 in the first round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, navigating tough conditions during a brutal day at Bay Hill. He added another 72 on Friday, carding three bogeys to three birdies, including one on the closing hole.

Koivun would be the third player to get his TOUR card through the Accelerated pathway, joining Clanton and Gordon Sargent. Both Clanton and Sargent are expected to take up TOUR membership at the end of the collegiate season this Spring. Koivun, still with two years of collegiate eligibility, has said he will take a different path, likely deferring his status until after the 2026 college golf season.

“I think there's definitely some steps I need to take before I can come out here and compete with these guys week-in and week-out,” Koivun said Thursday. “So I think going back to Auburn and playing some college golf would definitely be helpful.”

Koivun could always change his mind, which would set up a first-of-its-kind scenario of four college players joining the PGA TOUR mid-season. Along with Clanton and Sargent, the eventual 2025 No. 1 in the PGA TOUR University ranking will earn their card and be eligible to play TOUR golf.

Koivun has said he wants to take another year to mature mentally and prepare himself for the grind of pro golf, which includes copious travel and lots of learning. If Koivun doesn’t finish inside the top 10 this week, he could earn the 20th point in any number of ways, including a made cut at any future PGA TOUR event.

Nick Dunlap offered his perspective on making the jump to TOUR life earlier this week. Dunlap took a different path, winning The American Express and taking up status immediately after. Had he not won, though, the Alabama product was on pace to earn his card through the Accelerated program and told PGATOUR.COM late last year that likely would have stayed at Alabama until the end of his junior year.

“Sometimes wish I may have gotten a little bit longer (at Alabama),” Dunlap said, “but very, very grateful for what happened.”

The calculus would change for Koivun too, if he were to follow in Dunlap’s footsteps and win this week at Bay Hill. For now, he’s trying not to think too far ahead.

“I feel like it's kind of like a carrot dangling in front of me, I just got to go get it,” Koivun said. “It definitely adds a little bit of pressure, but the less I think about it the better.”