Jackson Koivun's 64 at the 3M Open Is Exactly Why the PGA Tour Still Needs Weeks Like This

Image: Birdie Report

This is the exact kind of week golf people pretend not to care about until somebody young does something impossible to ignore.

Then suddenly everybody remembers the PGA TOUR calendar still exists after The Open.

According to the Associated Press round-one recap published by the PGA TOUR on Thursday, July 23, 2026, checked on Friday, July 24, Jackson Koivun opened the 3M Open with a bogey-free 7-under 64, tied for second with Emiliano Grillo and Gary Woodland, two shots behind Ben Kohles and one ahead of Scottie Scheffler’s 65.

That is not just a nice first-round note.

It is the cleanest reminder of the week that post-major golf is still where the next chapter starts for actual players.

This column is based on the AP round-one recap published by the PGA TOUR on July 23, 2026, checked on Friday, July 24, 2026. No pretending I was walking inside the ropes at TPC Twin Cities asking Koivun whether he could already feel the discourse machine warming up.

For the straight-news setup around this week first, read our July 23 report on Stefano Mazzoli accepting PGA TOUR membership before the 3M Open, our broader opinion on why this tournament is a late-season pressure week instead of dead air, and our July 1 piece on Koivun’s professional debut at the John Deere Classic.

Koivun Did Not Just Sneak Onto Page One

The AP recap says Koivun made four birdies on the front nine and three more on the back in a bogey-free round.

That matters because a lot of “interesting young player” rounds are really one hot putting stretch and a bunch of scrambling. This one reads more like control.

And the PGA TOUR/AP recap adds the number that really gives it weight:

this was the lowest score of Koivun’s 43 career TOUR rounds.

Not college rounds. Not amateur starts. TOUR rounds.

That is a real early checkpoint.

This Is Why Weeks Like the 3M Open Matter

We already wrote in our 3M Open pressure-week column that the dumbest golf-media habit is treating the week after a major like a decorative waiting room.

Koivun’s Thursday is the player version of that argument.

If this week were actually meaningless, then a 21-year-old in just his 13th TOUR start and only his third as a professional would not be giving it one of the most interesting rounds on the board. But that is exactly what happened.

The AP recap also notes that Koivun turned pro in June after an Auburn career that included a school-record 11 wins. That is a huge amateur résumé. What the TOUR needs now is the part where those résumés turn into visible professional moments outside the major spotlight.

Thursday gave it one.

The Best Late-Summer Storylines Are Not Always the Safest Ones

Yes, Scheffler is here. Yes, Kohles led with a ridiculous 62. Yes, the leaderboard still has real veteran names on it.

But Koivun is the part that makes the event feel alive beyond one day’s scoring.

The whole point of keeping a broad schedule is that not every meaningful development in professional golf should have to happen at:

• a major
• a Signature Event
• or some made-for-TV executive summit about the future of the sport

Sometimes the important story is a young player proving he can immediately look comfortable in a week that still has real FedExCup pressure all over it.

That is not a consolation prize story. That is the tour system working.

Koivun’s Timing Makes the Round More Interesting

This is also why our earlier take that skipping The Open to turn pro was the right move still holds up.

The whole argument was that preserving one extra amateur badge mattered less than getting his professional runway started at the right time.

Now we are seeing what that actually buys:

• normal TOUR reps
• immediate scoreboard evidence
• and a chance to build momentum in real fields instead of preserving some misty amateur-theater version of his résumé

If Koivun had waited around for romance, this round does not happen.

Or at least it does not happen here, in a week where it can directly start changing how people talk about his ceiling.

My Take

I do not need one 64 to declare Koivun the next anything.

But I do think one 64 at the 3M Open is enough to say this is exactly the sort of story the PGA TOUR should stop treating like filler around bigger brands and bigger weeks.

Golf spends too much time whining that it needs new stars while quietly downplaying the actual weeks where those stars start becoming visible to normal people.

This is one of those weeks. Koivun just proved it.

Bottom Line

The PGA TOUR/AP round-one recap published July 23, 2026, checked on Friday, July 24, says Jackson Koivun opened the 3M Open with a bogey-free 64, tied for second and only two behind Ben Kohles.

That is more than a fun first-round surprise.

It is a reminder that the PGA TOUR still needs post-major weeks where the next-name stories can actually breathe.