Golf’s next megastar is at the U.S. Open. And a bogey best tells his story

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Golf’s next big thing had a pre-U.S. Open press conference on Monday. Because he’s golf’s next big thing. And golf’s next big things have pre-U.S. Open press conferences. 

In front of the cameras, golf’s next big thing smiled at most every question, and every answer was delivered as if a grin 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 clothing sponsor. Golf’s next big thing sounded and appeared like golf’s next big thing. 

Of course, you must see golf’s next big thing do his thing, which is to play golf, and it is something.  

His move is electric. His putting stroke is hypnotic. The accomplishments are many. [Deep breath now …] He’s the world’s top-ranked amateur. This season, while a junior at Auburn University, he played in 13 tournaments — and won six. His Tigers just won their second national title in three years. He’s 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 golf’s biggest thing, let Jackson Koivun tell you about a bogey. A scorecard square in a sea of circles. 

The plus-one came earlier this month at the NCAA national championship’s match-play team final, where, on the par-4 9th hole, Koivun was stuck after two shots. “I hit myself in probably the worst spot, just short-sided,” he said Monday. “Like one out of 10 it stays on the green.”

He went right. Safe. Bogey. Smart, smart, smart.  

From over the green, Koivun’s opponent “kind of messes up.” Double bogey.

Koivun won the hole. Koivun won the match. The Tigers won the title. 

“So that was definitely one I kind of lucked out on,” he said.

Maybe.

Maybe not. Listen more to Koivun. He’s 21, but could be mistaken for a number somewhere around the age of this week’s 135-year-old host, Shinnecock Hills. Last week, he announced he was turning pro, joining the PGA Tour through its college program — but thing is, he could have done so last year. 

But the then-college sophomore said he wasn’t ready. 

“I think my golf game was there,” Koivun said. “I just think I wasn’t ready to leave college, and mentally just wasn’t ready for the potential hardships and the travel and everything like that.

“But taking another year to really wrap my mind around that was good for me, and now I’m definitely ready.”

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What did he learn over the past year?

What he needed more of, he said. 

“Just maturity,” Koivun said. “That’s pretty much my answer. I just gave myself another year to grow, grow as a human being, mentally and physically and everything like that.”

These, of course, are just words, and Koivun is well-spoken. 

But Shinny makes no exceptions, and it takes no prisoners. Its mounds confound. Its wind slaps. Koivun said he watched when the U.S. Open was last played here, in 2018 (when he was 13!) “I just remember it looked really hard,” Koivun said. “Obviously, guys are hitting moving balls on the green; it’s dicey. 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 is to say Shinnecock is hard hard. And there’s his play at last year’s U.S. Open, his debut at the national championship. He missed the cut at Oakmont, another one of golf’s cathedrals. “Oakmont was hard, for sure,” he said. 

But remember, this is golf’s next big thing. 

And golf’s next big things aren’t easily made small, no matter the challenge, no matter the venue, no matter the tournament. That’s why they’re golf’s next big things.  

And Koivun is that. 

“For me, it’s just finding acceptance in golf,” he said. “Obviously coming into any event, I’m going to try to win it, but not pushing too hard and accepting that, like you said, it’s not a game where you win every week. 

“So understanding that and getting that through the head and just keep on going.”