AUBURN | A throng of people walked down the 18th fairway at the Auburn University Club, following the golden boy of college golf, as he wrapped up the NCAA Regional for the No. 1 Tigers. As usual, his tee shot was in the middle of the fairway, and with an iron in his hand, he knocked it to within 30 feet of the hole.
Auburn was already up so much that all the drama on whether the Tigers would win the regional was over, but for him, he was still in a fight for the individual prize, holding a three-shot lead over the nearest competitor. With the majority of the crowd now hovering around the 18th green, including his teammates, he stood over his birdie putt and let it loose.
It never left the line of the cup, quickly disappearing into the ground as a humongous roar came from the gallery. He had all but clinched the individual prize, and everyone in the audience knew it.
There's almost nothing left to write about Jackson Koivun that hasn't already been written. The regional award was just another prize for a trophy case that he might soon have to replace with a bigger one if he continues to do what he has done in his first two seasons at Auburn at this pace.
It's absurd what he's accomplished in such little time. He made history as a freshman by winning almost every award possible in college golf. He can now add the regional individual title to his collection and another team regional win. Koivun became the second Auburn golfer to win the individual at a regional, the last coming in 1990.
So what makes him so special? I went to the guy who accomplished that feat 35 years ago for the Tigers: Jimmy Green.
"He knows how to score," Green said. "I will take 10 of those every day. He gets in and he's there. I mean, he's gonna be right in the mix of it. He is an amazing player. He's done more in two years here at Auburn than anybody's ever done."
Going into the day, the prodigy sat one stroke behind Kennesaw State's Claes Borregaard, an individual qualifier, on the leaderboard. Borregaard is as talented as you would expect from someone who ultimately earned a spot at the NCAA Championships by finishing second at the Auburn regional, but to bet against Koivun would have been like putting money on the Washington Generals to beat the Harlem Globetrotters.
Nick Clinard, who follows Koivun around during each round, made that mistake heading into the regional, saying if he won the individual title, he would grow a beard.
"Not a smart bet," the coach said.
By the time the guy who Clinard calls the best putter he's ever coached took a two-shot lead on the back nine, it was inevitable that Koivun wouldn't falter.
"Just a lot of grit, patience, composure," his coach said. "Stuff that he's learned, I think, over the last two years. Not trying to force the issue and just let it come to him.
The bad news for the rest of college golf, but amazing for Auburn, is that Koivun plans on staying another two years before ultimately joining the PGA Tour. Green expects the Chapel Hill, N.C., native to set every record possible for the Auburn men's golf program if he chooses that route.
The kid is special, and the crowd on hand knew they were witnessing a player who doesn't come around often. In typical Koivun fashion, there was no exuberant celebration. He's not one to gloat, even if he has everything to gloat about. No, he left the green, celebrated with his teammates for a few seconds, went and signed his card and then found his family to share the moment with.
It was seemingly just another victory for Koivun.
One day, we will run out of words to describe him. Luckily, today is not one of them, not after that performance.
