Jackson Koivun has revealed that the crowd on Sunday at the 3M Open were warning him about the charge Scottie Scheffler was going to make before the youngster got across the line and secured his first PGA Tour title.
Koivun has made a real statement of intent in only his third PGA Tour start as a professional. The 21-year-old finished three shots clear of the world number one at TPC Twin Cities.
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Of course, the scoring was hugely impressive. However, it was also remarkable just how comfortable Koivun looked as he edged closer to the finishing line in Minnesota.
What fans were saying about Scottie Scheffler during Jackson Koivun’s final round at the 3M Open
It was only on the 72nd hole that the scale of the achievement seemed to get to the youngster. Nevertheless, he still managed to make the par that secured the 3M Open scoring record for Jackson Koivun.
It was all the more significant because it was Scottie Scheffler hunting him down over the weekend. The 30-year-old posted rounds of 64 and 63 across Saturday and Sunday to secure his fifth runner-up finish of the season.
Many outside the ropes were clearly hoping to see Scheffler secure only his second victory of the season, as Koivun revealed after his victory was confirmed.
“I played a great round of golf today. Definitely had some nerves on 18. All throughout the crowd I kept hearing ‘Scottie is coming, Scottie is coming’. I just tried to tune that out and keep playing the golf I knew I could play and I was able to find some good putts coming down the stretch,” he said.
What Jackson Koivun writes on his glove before every round
Koivun, understandably, does not lack belief in himself. He appears to stay on the right side of the fine line between confidence and arrogance.
Obviously, anyone who wants to win on the PGA Tour needs to have a ruthless edge that allows them to thrive when the pressure is at its most intense.
It turns out that Koivun has several tenets that shape how he wants to play on the golf course. He was asked about the words that are written on his glove.
“I wrote confidence and trust and dominate. Dominate is a word I came up with in college because I wanted to see how well I could play,” he said.
“I came up with it with my short game coach. It helped me a lot with my mindset in college golf this year and I just kept doing it.”
Koivun proved that he is the real deal this week. But judging by the words on his glove, he very much knew that already.
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