SOUTHAMPTON, NY – Golf’s next big thing held a press conference ahead of the US Open on Monday. Because he’s golf’s next big thing. And the next big things in golf are the press conferences before the US Open.
In front of the cameras, golf’s next big thing smiled at almost every question, and every answer was delivered as if a smile had a tone. On the left side of golf’s next big thing’s black polo was a cursive M, the logo of Malbon, golf’s next big thing’s new apparel sponsor. Golf’s next big thing looked and sounded like golf’s next big thing.
Of course, you have to see the next big thing in golf do its thing, which is to play golf, and that’s something.
His movement is electric. His kick is hypnotic. of achievements are numerous. (Deep breath now…) He is the best amateur in the world. This season, while a junior at Auburn University, he played in 13 tournaments — and won six. His tigers alone won his second national title in three years. He is the first player in college golf history to win all three Player of the Year awards (Haskins, Hogan, Nicklaus) more than once. The list of what he hasn’t done is shorter than the list of what he has.
But if you really Want to know the biggest thing in golf, let Jackson Koivu tell you about a bogey. A square with a score sheet in a sea of circles.
The plus-1 came earlier this month in the team finals of the NCAA National Championship, where, on the par-4 9th hole, Koivun was stuck two shots behind. “I probably hit myself in the worst spot, just on the short side,” he said Monday. “Like one in 10 stays green.”
He went straight. Safe. Bogey.
From the green, Koivun’s opponent “kind of a mess.” Double bogey.
Koivun won the hole. Koivun won the match. The Tigers won the title.
“So that was definitely one that I got lucky with,” he said.
Maybe.
Maybe not. Hear more of Koivu. He’s 21 … going to a number somewhere around the age of this week’s 135-year-old host, Shinnecock Hills. Last week, he announced he was coming back pro, joining the PGA Tour through his college program — but the thing is, he could have the last one year.
But the then college sophomore said he felt he was not ready.
“I think my golf game was there,” Koivun said. “I just think I wasn’t ready to leave college, and mentally I just wasn’t ready for the potential hardships and the travel and everything like that.
“But taking another year to wrap my head around it was good for me, and now I’m definitely ready.”
What did he learn during the last year?
What he needed most, he said.
“Just maturity,” Koivun said. “That’s pretty much my answer. I just gave myself another year to grow, to grow as a human being, mentally and physically and everything like that.”
These, of course, are all words, and Koivun is well spoken.
But Shinny makes no exceptions and takes no prisoners. Her mounds are tangled. Her smell slaps. Koivun said he watched when US Open it was last played here in 2018 (when he was 13!) “I remember it looking very difficult,” Koivun said. “Obviously, guys are hitting drives on the green; it’s weird. You watch some guys just hit some shots in places, and when you’re younger, it’s easier to say, well, how did he do that? Now you come out here and you’re like, OK, well, that makes a lot more sense now.”
Which means Shinnecock is tough. And here’s his game at last year’s US Open, his national championship debut. He missed the cut at Oakmont, another one of golf’s cathedrals. “Oakmont was tough, for sure,” he said.
But remember, this is golf’s next big thing.
And golf’s next big things don’t easily become small, no matter the challenge, no matter the venue, no matter the tournament. This is why they are the next big thing in golf.
And Koivun is him.
“For me, it’s just finding acceptance in golf,” he said. “Obviously coming into every event I’m going to try to win it, but without pushing too hard and recognizing that, as you said, it’s not a game where you win every week.
“So figure that out and figure that out and just move on.”
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