Wyndham Clark stopped Scottie Scheffler from completing his career Grand Slam by winning the 2026 U.S. Open. He became the first wire-to-wire U.S. Open champion since 2014. Besides that, he also won the CJ Cup Byron Nelson earlier this year. Despite having an exceptional season so far, he is jealous of Jackson Koivun, who has won a regular PGA Tour event at the 3M Open. But it’s not the victory that got the 32-year-old jealous; it’s the opportunity.

“Yeah, I was kind of in Jackson’s spot when I first turned pro but didn’t have that opportunity to make it through — we didn’t have PGA TOUR U at the time. I think it’s an amazing program. I’m a little jealous, it would have been nice to be coming out and having tons of starts and know you have a place to play,” Wyndham Clark said ahead of the Rocket Classic.

“What I do know is you kind of hear Jackson’s name, he tied medalist at the U.S. Open, and to win your whatever start that is for him, I don’t know if that’s second, third, fourth, is amazing. These guys are you just, everyone’s good now. These young guys are fearless. I came out and some of my first starts I was a little nervous, didn’t play great. These new guys are coming in and thinking they can win and are winning, so it’s pretty amazing.”

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How Old Is Jackson Koivun?

20192118

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Koivun turned professional at the 2026 John Deere Classic and won his first PGA Tour title in his third start. And it was not against a weak field. Scottie Scheffler and Hideki Matsuyama were there.

The 21-year-old carded rounds of 64-68-61-66 to finish 25-under 259. Scheffler, the World No. 1, finished runner-up at TPC Twin Cities, trailing Koivun till the very end. But as Clark pointed out, the recently turned professional was fearless.

Even Scheffler said in the post-round conference that, aside from his golf skills, Koivun demonstrated exceptional mental strength. Koivun admitted he was nervous, especially hearing chants of “Scottie’s coming” throughout the round. However, he ignored everything and focused on his game.

While Clark praises Koivun’s mental strength and his game, he is jealous of the path Koivun has taken. It didn’t exist when Clark turned professional. The 3M Open 2026 winner earned his PGA Tour membership through the PGA TOUR University.

In 2020, organizers introduced PGA TOUR University to bridge college golf and the professional game by awarding tour membership based on a season-long ranking. In November 2022, the university announced it would award a PGA Tour card early to high-performing freshmen, sophomores, or juniors.

The first golfer to earn a PGA Tour card through the university was Ludvig Aberg. The first to get the card through the accelerated program was Gordon Sargent, who, as Clark noted, is fearless on the course.

But Clark had to play on the Korn Ferry Tour to earn his PGA Tour membership. And even when he earned his card for the 2018-2019 season, he wasn’t as prepared as Koivun or others who go to the PGA Tour University, and it reflected in his game, too.

For instance, Clark missed the cut in eight events in his debut season on the PGA Tour. Even in the 19 events he made the cut, he managed a top 25 only eight times.

According to Clark, this stark difference is because of the PGA Tour University. But is it appropriate to be jealous of Koivun for that?