Presidents Cup: Is Jackson Koivun ready for his close-up?

MEDINAH, Ill. – Jackson Koivun was flushed with embarrassment.

Dressed in a suit and tie on Tuesday night, the 21-year-old Presidents Cup rookie briefly covered his face with both hands as he stood in front of Chicago’s famous “The Bean,” surrounded by the wives and girlfriends of his U.S. teammates for their official gala portraits.

It was an awkward moment. And, judging by the laughter coming from his teammates, an entirely intentional one.

The scene has become something of a Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup tradition. In 2016, a then-single Rickie Fowler sheepishly smiled for the cameras as his U.S. teammates’ partners kissed their respective golfers. Seven years later, at the 2023 Ryder Cup, it was Viktor Hovland's turn, as the Norwegian posed solo with the European WAGs – and the Ryder Cup trophy – after the Europeans’ victory at Marco Simone in Italy.

Now, Koivun is the token single guy.

As the women gathered around him for the photo, his teammates gleefully chirped from the sidelines. Koivun took it all in stride. He subtly flipped them the bird, never breaking eye contact with the cameras, and flashed a grin that suggested he’d been posing for school pictures his entire life.

For a player who has recently spent much of his time adjusting to life on the PGA Tour, suddenly finding himself at the center of attention is becoming something Koivun may have to get used to.

“It was a little bit of peer pressure to get up there, but it was cool,” Koivun said of the moment. “I felt a little out of place, but as we've seen before, it's kind of something that happens if you're single going up to one of those galas. They kind of pick on you a little bit, but it was a fun night.”

It’s a mature perspective for someone mere months out of college, but Koivun has been preparing for this moment for quite some time.

Before he was a PGA Tour rookie, he was one of the most accomplished college golfers the game has ever seen.

At Auburn, Koivun became the first freshman in history to sweep all four major collegiate player-of-the-year awards – the Fred Haskins, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan and Phil Mickelson awards – in 2024. He later became the first player in NCAA history to win the major player-of-the-year honors multiple times.

He won national championships with Auburn in 2024 and 2026 and became a three-time SEC individual champion, winning the conference title in each of his final three collegiate seasons.

And then there was the scoring record.

At the 2025 Amer Ari Invitational, Koivun opened with consecutive rounds of 62, breaking Tiger Woods’ long-standing NCAA 36-hole scoring record.

The numbers tell one story. His Presidents Cup teammates see another.

“He's just really good,” said Russell Henley, who first met Koivun while he was at Auburn. “I'm excited to watch him play this week. You know, I feel like he's just very mature as a golfer. Very smart; knows his game. Impressive player.”

Henley also sees something that may be just as important this week as Koivun’s ability to shoot low scores.

“He's a nice guy. He's very easy to be around. He's really mature for his age. Yeah, I think he's fitting in it perfectly. So it's been pretty easy to be around him,” Henley said.

That ability to fit in may come in handy in a team room filled with established stars.

U.S. Captain Brandt Snedeker has made a point of making sure the rookie feels comfortable, cognizant of the fact that Koivun was playing college golf just a year ago. Now he's in a group chat with Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay.

The group chat, naturally, has a name: “Medinah '26.”

And apparently, the rookie has already found his voice.

“I've been super impressed with how funny Jacob Bridgeman and Chris Gotterup and Jackson are in these things,” Snedeker said. “It's been hilarious to me to see them interact with the guys on the team.”

Koivun, however, admited Wednesday that he’s still a little in awe of the whole situation: “Growing up watching a couple of these guys do what they do, it's been really cool to call them my partners now, and being in group chats with them, getting to know them, all that kind of stuff has just been kind of surreal.”

On the course, though, Koivun is hardly a newcomer to pressure.

His 13-4-1 match-play record at Auburn was a reflection of a player whose game has long translated particularly well to head-to-head competition. He went 3-0-0 in match play at the 2024 NCAA Championship, helping Auburn win its first national championship, and broke the school record with eight match-play wins in a single season.

His approach is straightforward: consistency, patience and the willingness to let an opponent make the first mistake.

“He's an incredible golfer, but I think his mental game is there at 21,” said Bridgeman, another Presidents Cup rookie who played alongside Koivun for two rounds last week at a tournament he won, the inaugural Biltmore Championship Asheville. “He's already playing like everyone else on Tour and all the guys that are very successful.”

Bridgeman was impressed enough that, after the Presidents Cup team was announced, he made a special trip to Florida to play a few rounds with Koivun.

“I'm not at all shocked by his success at an early age and the ability he's had to come out and compete on Tour,” Bridgeman said. “In this team competition, he's ready for it. He's earned it. He's just as good as anybody of us, so he's very impressive.”

Snedeker saw those same qualities when making his captain’s pick.

“When it comes to what makes a great match play player, at the end of the day, it's going to come down to determination, will, grit, those kinds of things,” Snedeker said.

And there is another quality Koivun brings that may be harder to quantify: He doesn't seem particularly interested in pretending to be someone he's not.

Snedeker describes him as reserved, especially compared with some of the bigger personalities in the U.S. Team room. But that doesn't mean he's been sitting quietly in the corner.

“I think Jackson's process is probably on the reserved side,” Snedeker said. “He's not going to be a gregarious outgoing guy and joking and laughing a ton. For someone who's 21 years old, he's well beyond those years in the way he carries himself.”

Then came the most important part.

“We're not asking him to be somebody he's not this week,” the U.S. captain said. “We want him to just go be him.”

As for his own mindset, Koivun noted: “Honestly, I'm just trying to go play well for USA. I feel like if I can go play the way I can, I can prove myself in that aspect. Yeah, just go fight hard for the United States.”

Perhaps that's the biggest reason Koivun's transition has looked so natural.

He isn't being asked to suddenly become a different golfer because he's standing at the storied Medinah Country Club, Course No. 3, with a Presidents Cup beside him. He's being asked to do what he has been doing for years: Trust his game, embrace the competition and keep moving forward.

And if Tuesday night's photo shoot was any indication, he's also learning how to handle a little attention along the way.

At the very least, he's already learned a few golden rules for being the token single guy on a Presidents Cup team:

Take the ribbing.

Smile for the cameras.

And, when necessary, give it right back.