Jackson Koivun’s volatile pro debut: A minute-by-minute live blog

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For better or worse, I’m not a good sports fan when it comes to prospects. I don’t watch the NFL draft in the Giants offseason, I couldn’t care less about whatever high schoolers Jon Scheyer is recruiting at Duke, and I skip past any mention of minor leaguers while reading about my precious Yankees. (Yes, I root for many of the evil teams.) Potential, to me, is kind of boring—wake me up when they start producing.

Jackson Koivun is different. I don’t know exactly why, but I’m completely buying the hype on this guy, and I’m sufficiently psyched to watch his professional debut at the John Deere Classic that I’m rolling out this minute-by-minute breakdown of how he fares on his first competitive day as a pro. All I want to do is watch this 21-year-old play golf, but I also have to work, so [taps head], I’m doing both.

Why is Koivun more compelling to me than the average prospect? It could be the fact that he was the No. 1 amateur in the world, won a billion college golfer of the year awards (I’m not kidding, there are dozens of these things), went 6-1 in NCAA match play while leading Auburn to two NCAA titles, strung together three tour top-10s as an amateur last year, and looked incredibly composed at Shinnecock as he finished T-23. But it’s also something more, something intangible, that just gives me the sense he’s special.

Koivun skipped his senior year of college to turn pro, so let’s skip our usual morning routines to follow him at TPC Deere Run. (Everything below was written live and published right after the round, with no edits no matter how stupid I ended up sounding.)

8:35 a.m.: I logged into ESPN+ and briefly panicked when I didn’t see the Jordan Spieth-Ben Griffin-Jackson Koivun tee time as a featured group … until I clicked on golf and saw it as a MARQUEE group. Yes! That’s what I’m talking about, ESPN. These men are not simply “featured.” You must give them the respect they deserve.

Koivun steps up on No. 10, looking sharp in a blue Titleist hat, white Malbon shirt (will they dress him in an astronaut suit or a European DJ outfit soon?) and blue pants, and white shoes. He’s dressed almost the same as Spieth, which obviously means—METAPHOR ALERT!—that he’s ready to pick up the torch and become golf’s new child prodigy.

His first ever drive looks a little-hooky, but hangs up in the left rough. No big deal!

Julia Johnson, who will be walking with the group all day, says she’s looking forward to watching all three, adds that she’s really looking forward to watching Koivun. She knows what’s up.

8:45 a.m.: Spieth is already dropping a club, shouting “dang it,” and finding the water. I’m here for Koivun, but I do want to note up top that it is insanely hard to be the most interesting person when you’re in a group with Jordan f***ing Spieth. Oh, you’re the No. 1 prospect in golf, making your first start as a pro, with greatness in your future? Too bad, because this other guy is somehow hitting an approach shot from the bucket of an excavator. And he only has one shoe.

And as if on cue, he makes par from the water. Koivun does too, after a nice recovery but a bit of a tentative birdie putt.

I swear this is not going to become an accidental Spieth blog, but it’s worth asking now: Is it weird for him, at age 32, to be watching a 21-year-old wunderkind with the whole world ahead of him? I know it’s the natural order of life, but does he think about days gone by? Does he shed a single tear? Thoughts to ponder as the day goes on.

8:55 a.m.: As Koivun finds the fairway at two and Johnson makes the excellent point that he has to start wearing pants all the time now, let’s take a moment to review some of the Koivun Kontent I’ve been consuming lately, starting with this nice tour-produced video, The Acceleration of Jackson Koivun. Sean Martin, who produced the piece, did a post on his mental game, and the basic gist is that he’s been ridiculously focused since he was a little kid, and that he’s fearless. My favorite quote is from Josh Gregory (who I think coaches roughly 90 percent of tour players at this point), who said, “he loves to show off, and that’s one of the traits you can’t really teach.”

Hell yes! I love a showman, and I think that’s part of the Koivun experience that draws me in. He doesn’t seem to have the flashiest personality, but there’s flashiness to his game, and a bit of that Spieth/Seve spirit of adventure and chaos.

9:05 a.m.: However, they also keep telling me he’s one of the best putters in the world, and he’s now missed two birdie putts. If he’s so good, why isn’t he making every single putt?

I’m not afraid to ask the tough questions.

As Koivun gets ready to play the first par-3 of his professional career, a few more set-the-scene type notes:

—It’s going to be insanely hot in Iowa or Illinois or Nebraska or the Yukon or wherever they play this thing, and it’s all anyone can talk about. Which I support.

—It goes without saying that you have to make a trillion birdies to have a chance to win.

—This is the first tour event Koivun has played twice, and he finished T-11 here last year.

9:15 a.m.: Koivun hits his tee shot to 18 feet, and BURIES IT! GREATEST PUTTER ALIVE!

He acts like he’s been there before, touches his nose briefly and gives a brief wave to the crowd. Christina Kim on ESPN says she likes that his caddie didn’t even give him a fist pump or a high-five. I disagree, but only because I think caddies should be constant hype machines, to the point of making fools of themselves.

9:25 a.m.: At this point, I think it’s fair to ask the question on everyone’s mind: Will Jackson Koivun ever miss another putt?

He pipes his drive on 13, and regrettably, I have to step away for a moment to do a podcast with some Irish people who probably don’t even care about Jackson Koivun. I’ll do my best to spread the gospel, and be back by 10:15 at the latest. I expect him to be at least 9 under by then.

10:05 a.m.: I’m BACK, and I’ll have you know that I was wrong—the Irish are curious about Jackson Koivun too. Unfortunately, he’s not quite nine under like I hoped and expected, but somehow Ben Griffin went from one under to four under, thanks to a QUAD on 14. I’m so sad to have missed that.

Now, while have a moment (Koivun has to scramble on 15 after chipping out from under a tree), let’s ask an important question: what kind of name is “Koivun,” world-wise? I’m trying to take a guess before I look it up, and the closest comp I can think of is the hockey player Saku Koivu, who I’m pretty sure was Finnish. But “Koivun” is different enough from “Koivu” that I’m going to zig where they expect me to zag, and say that it’s … Hungarian.

Let’s see what Google says:

The Koivun surname is a variation or Anglicized form of the Finnish surname Koivu, which translates to “birch.”

SON OF A—

10:15: Christina Kim says that Koivun looks “discombobulated” as he makes the first bogey of his professional career following an iffy chip.

Meanwhile, on the par-3 16th, not only do we have the first bunker of Koivun’s career, but the first fried egg! Unfortunately, we do not have the first sand save, as he misses the eight-footer coming back, and based on the very little I know, I have to agree with Kim, and also with her contention that you gotta “giddy-up” on this course.

10:45: Sorry, while they played the par-5 I took the opportunity to watch roughly a dozen videos of the fans singing “Country Roads” at the U.S. World Cup match Wednesday night. I’m back just in time to see Koivun nicely scrambling on the par-5 to give himself a short-ish birdie look … and then missing.

He’s definitely just slightly off, which is a big “who cares?” for me because I’m just happy to be here.

Random Koivun observation: He seems to have really long arms. I sometimes think that’s a pre-requisite to being a great golfer. Name me one star with nubby little arms. You can’t.

Another random Koivun observation: He looks a little like Neil from No Laying Up.

10:55: Big news on ESPN+, we’ve got an announcer change. Tom Werme and Dennis Paulson are in for Myan Patel and Christina Kim after just eight holes. Did the producers give them the hook, like a manager pulling the starting pitcher after three innings? They were doing fine! (This is obviously not why it happened.)

To honor the new announcers, Spieth immediately hits the ball into the water and proceeds to excoriate himself for a good minute.

We have a bit of a Murphy’s Law of sportswriting happening here, which is that I picked today to highlight everything that makes Koivun great, and he’s having a pretty bad round by his standards. It’s no different on 18, where he pulls his driver into a bunker, hits his approach into a bunker, but then plays it beautifully from the sand.

Paulson has an interesting take that even though players like Koivun aren’t exactly worried about the money angle (he had a $2.5 million NIL valuation at Auburn his last season), it still represents a huge change and a pretty decent amount of pressure to actually turn pro and put everything on the line. All your years of potential are over, and now it’s time to actualize it…that can be daunting.

As if on cue, he misses a four-footer for par. His first front nine as a pro is in the books as a 2 over 38. Hilariously, after reading and hearing about what a great putter he is, he’s not 63rd of 64 players in SG: Putting right now.

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Andy Lyons

11:05: What I’m looking for on the second nine—how does he react to a nervy start?

To figure it out, we’ll have to wait as Spieth plays his second shot on no. 1 from a different galaxy, while his third brought this quote out of Dennis Paulson: “That might be the worst chip I’ve ever seen Jordan Spieth hit.” How does this man live inside his own world?

Koivun meanwhile found the fairway and has given himself an 11-foot look for birdie. Spiritually, it feels like he needs this….buttttttt he doesn’t get it.

Random Koivun observation: the book in his back pocket is emblazoned with the letters “WDE.” What does that mean? I’ll report back if I figure it out.

11:25: Lucas Glover, who leads the tournament at 6 under right now, is 25 years older than Koivun. When he won his first PGA Tour event, the “Funai Classic at Walt Disney World Resort,” Koivun was six months old to the day.

Random Koivun observation: The other sponsors on his clothing besides Titleist and Malbon are Delta (left collar), Old Republic (home warranty, left sleeve), Betterment (investment app, right collar), Omni (hotels, right sleeve).

11:45: Clinical birdie from Koivun on the very easy par-5 second, and we are BACK, baby!

On the next hole, he says “ah, man!” about a shot that finds the green, albeit 36 feet away, and that’s the most demonstrative he’s been all day, and significantly more than the look of quiet disappointment after a B- lag on his birdie putt. But he cleans it up from five feet, and the bleeding is officially stopped.

Also, checking back on the yardage book, Auburn fans will be mad at me, because WDE stands for “War Damn Eagle,” which is their rally cry.

12:05: In theory, watching a featured group (excuse me, marquee group) like this should be less stimulating and less fun than just watching an ordinary broadcast, but a lot of times I find the exact opposite to be true. It’s just so weirdly peaceful to settle in with one group, especially on a weekday morning, that I prefer it. You cut out so much of the BS from the usual coverage. Nobody’s trying too hard, it feels like there are fewer commercials, and you get little details you’d miss with the rapid-cut style broadcast, like little side conversations between players. I highly recommend it.

Hey, Patel and Kim are back! They weren’t fired or murdered, great news! Although I’m worried about the endurance of these announcers, they’re like hockey players at this point with their shift changes.

Meanwhile, the news for Koivun just keeps getting worse as he rips his drive into the rough.

“I am searching for some positives,” says Kim as he notices his ball in an okay lie, and that basically sums up the experience of his debut so far. BUT! He makes another par.

Random Koivun observation: Since we’ve done every other part of his outfit, let’s complete it by noting that he wears an Apple watch on his right wrist, and a black band (maybe medical?) and silver chain-style bracelet on his left. No word on what kind of underwear he uses.

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Tyler Clouse

12:15: “He has the benefit of watching Spieth,” Kim says of Koivun’s round, and I have to ask:

Does he? Is it a benefit?

I feel like spending too long around the Spieth golf circus could absolutely ruin a young man. I can see Koivun in the locker room post-round, shaking like a soldier who just saw his first action on the front line, and realizing he can’t hack it in this world.

On five, Koivun hits what is probably his best approach of the day from 167, leaving himself a 12-foot birdie putt, but he takes wayyyyyy too much break and misses again.

Here’s something I keep thinking every time I hear about what a great putter he is—of the four main elements of the game, between driving, irons, scrambling, and putting, putting is both the most variable and the least valuable. Yes, it’s great to hit a bunch of long putts for birdie, but that doesn’t happen consistently for anyone, and because it’s such a volatile stat by individual, it also has the least relevance to success.

Now, this is not some grand prognostication on Koivun’s long-term viability as a pro, because all parts of his game are amazing. It’s just a note to say that nobody can ride their putting alone to a great career, even great putters are going to have bad days, and it’s a little over-emphasized.

12:35: Speaking of parts of the game, it seems like he’s been very rough off the tee. Even here, on the sixth hole and using an iron, he slings it left and barely avoids the bunker. The stats only kind of back me up—he’s 41st of 72 on SG: Off the Tee, and still really poor in putting (71 of 72).

Okay, while we wait for the approach, a bit about his personality. The word on Koivun from people who know is that while he’s a killer on the course (a trait he supposedly gets from his mom), and while he’s ultra-competitive and, as we noted from Gregory earlier, likes to show off, he’s also super quiet off the course and a little uncomfortable with the spotlight when he’s off the course.

Terrific approach on six despite some “I hate this shot” body language, and now we’re speculating about how he’s breathing and his general level of tension, and I will say that I kind of agree with the announcers that he has the look of somebody who is wound pretty tight, although that might just be how he looks rather than anything specific to today.

He also looks incredibly young. Or just normal for someone who’s 21, as opposed to someone like Scottie Scheffler who has looked 38 years old probably since he was 10. Regardless, he pours in the birdie, and he’s back to even! Now all he has to do is birdie the next three holes, shoot a 61 tomorrow, and maybe he’ll be in the top ten.

12:55: I know TPC Deere Run takes a lot of flack among tour courses, but I love the way it looks. It’s hard to explain because there are no breathtaking vistas or anything visually spectacular, but it has a tranquil, bucolic feel. Tremendous vibes, like your favorite spot in the woods to have a picnic. Brian Rolapp, please send me to play it.

Koivun short-sides himself in the bunker on 7, but it turns out he’s got plenty of room and plays a nifty little shot to inside four feet. In an interview in the tour video linked above, he talked about how he’s trying to play smarter, more cautious golf now, but that his natural inclination is to be a risk-taker. We’ve sort of seen the wild side today, especially off the tee, but we haven’t quite seen the scrambling magic yet.

Also, worth pointing out: Ben Griffin is now 2 under despite the early quad.

I love how Koivun putts assertively, even on a day like today when his confidence has to be a little shaky. If he’s three or four feet away, he’s banging it home, consequences be damned.

1:05: Best drive of the day on 8 for Koivun, a 304 carry right down the center, and while he’s not considered a “long” hitter by modern tour standards, that shot proves he has plenty of length when he needs it.

It’s starting to get nasty in Silvis, less because of the temperature and more because of the dew point, which is a gruesome 74 to go along with 90+ temps. It certainly pays to be in the morning wave today.

Sadly, Koivun follows the great drive with what is easily his worst approach the day, flying the green by a mile and getting another fried egg in the sand for his trouble. He can’t do much with it, and it’s back to over par.

1:15: And now, still showing very little much emotion beyond a slight flush in the face that we can easily attribute to the heat, Koivun comes to his final hole. His drive is good but once again his approach is poor, ending in yet another trap, and you can see a sign of his frustration in how he rips at his glove. It’s subtle, but it’s there. He leaves himself 11 feet for par out of the sand, once again reads too much break, and finishes with a bogey.

So…what are the final thoughts here? Well, this was about the worst-case scenario, based on his high standards, for how his debut could have gone (short of falling in the water or accidentally maiming Spieth with an errant iron). He was rocky off the tee, worse on approach, and very nearly the worst player in the field putting. And even so, he shot 73 and can try to fight for a made cut tomorrow. This will certainly not be the high point of his professional career, but that matters less than the fact that it has officially begun. Now we’ll see how great he can become.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com