Jackson Koivun’s inspired playoff run just hit a brick wall, ending his FedEx St. Jude Championship on Sunday with an even-par 70 and a tie for 24th. This kid needed a tie for seventh or better to even sniff a chance at next week’s BMW Championship, and honestly, his postseason dream largely unraveled on one brutal hole: the 11th. But here is the real kicker, Koivun has dropped a full 10 pounds since turning pro in June, and that weight loss is sounding like a massive hurdle he has to figure out, fast.
The 11th Hole Just Crushed His Playoff Hopes
Let’s talk about the 11th hole, because wow, that was a gut punch. On Sunday, Koivun made a brutal triple-bogey 6 on that par-3. He slammed his tee shot off a walking bridge, and then to add insult to injury, chipped his next shot straight into a water hazard. Ouch. But get this, it was not just Sunday. On Thursday, he carded a double-bogey 5 on the same hole. That’s a five-shot difference on one single hole across the tournament. If he played the 11th in even par both days, he could have cracked the top 50 in FedExCup points and been playing next week. That has to sting when he says, “Looking back, if I play [No.] 11 in even par I’m playing next week and that kind of stinks, but I’m happy with how this summer turned out.”
Losing Weight, Losing Steam: A Tough Learning Curve
It’s clear this young star is still learning the ropes on the PGA Tour. He broke through big time with his first Tour victory at the 3M Open last month, which was awesome. But he’s been open about the grind since then. “It’s been fun,” Koivun said, “Obviously, 3M was great and I had my game, but the last three weeks it’s just been a learning experience.” He has never played four weeks straight before and admits he’s “learning how to recover and eat enough to not get exhausted.” The Memphis heat, hovering above 100 degrees all week, certainly did not help. Losing 10 pounds since June is no joke for an athlete, and he bluntly put it, “I need to learn to figure out how to eat more, I’m losing weight.” He laughed when asked what he learned, saying, “That I’m not immortal.” This pro tour life is a whole different beast than college.
Presidents Cup Dream Still Alive?
While his playoff run is done for now, Koivun has his eyes on bigger things in the fall. He admitted the Presidents Cup was “weighing on me a little bit” and he really wanted to impress captain Brandt Snedeker with a deep playoff run. Right now, he is sitting 53rd, well outside the top 6 automatic qualifiers. He knows he can play and win for the team, but acknowledges, “I just don’t think I’ve proved that yet to the captain.” He was projected to finish 67th on the FedExCup points list, so he will need to seriously improve that number in the fall if he wants a shot at the 2027 signature events. He plans to play the new Biltmore Championship in September, and we will be watching to see how he grinds it out.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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