Koivun wins Nicklaus Award earns spot in The Memorial

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247sports.com
Koivun wins Nicklaus Award earns spot in The Memorial
Jason Caldwell
3–4 minutes

AUBURN, Alabama—After winning SEC Freshman of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, the Ben Hogan Award as well as the Haskins Award, Auburn freshman golfer Jackson Koivun will add another big one this week when he's presented the Nicklaus Award to finish up a clean sweep of hardware following a run to the NCAA Championship.

Along with the Nicklaus Award, Koivun also gets a spot in one of the top PGA Tour events on the calendar each year, The Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.

An elevated event that will feature most of the best players in the game, The Memorial is another huge opportunity for Koivun to compete and continue his incredible year on the course.

"It's awesome," Koivun tells Auburn Undercover. "It's my first tour event that I get to play in. It's obviously a huge event on tour. It's an elevated event. I couldn't be more honored."

With names like Ludvig Aberg, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and others playing this week in the field, Koivun said this week is all about soaking it in and learning to prepare him for when his time comes on the next level.

"I've got to go in with no expectations," Koivun said. "It's a learning experience just seeing what those guys do that makes them so much better. Just grow a lot from that."

Growth is what Koivun showed throughout his first season with the Tigers. Coming to Auburn from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, he was the No. 1 recruit in the country by the AJGA and No. 3 by Golf Channel. Still, nobody saw a season like this coming.

"I have definitely felt myself grow this season," he said. "I have learned a lot and matured in my golf game. That's all thanks to the coaches and players.

"It has been awesome," Koivun added of the magical season. "These guys are great. The coaches are awesome. The culture at Auburn is unbelievable. I couldn't be happier to be a part of it. We definitely pushed each other a lot to succeed. We have been succeeding a lot. Now we have new expectations for next year."

As for next year, Koivun will lead what should again be one of if not the most talented team in the country. The Tigers will lose JM Butler, Alex Vogelsong and grad student Hal Dove, but they also bring back four starters and add two of the top incoming freshmen in the country to the mix. Koivun said after winning the title this season, that's the goal next year.

"I think that's the new goal," Koivun said. "Obviously that's a huge expectation, but we're losing many players. Obviously JM and Alex and Hal, which will be tough, but keeping four of the starting five will be huge for us and we bring in some new talent. It will be gre