No men’s golfer had won the SEC Male Athlete of the Year award in 51 years—until Jackson Koivun. On August 4, 2026, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced that the Auburn standout has become the first recipient of the award since track and field athlete Harvey Glance won the award in the inaugural year, 1976. The PGA Tour University shared Koivun‘s achievement on X.

“One of a kind! Jackson Koivun becomes the first men’s golf recipient of the SEC Male Athlete of the Year in the award’s 51-year history.”

Koivun is Auburn’s fifth SEC Athlete of the Year and the first male winner since Bo Jackson in 1986. He joins Glance, Rowdy Gaines (1981), Jackson, and Kirsty Coventry (2005) on the exclusive list.

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The Roy F. Kramer SEC Male Athlete of the Year, awarded since 1976, recognizes top collegiate performers; each SEC school nominates candidates, and athletics directors vote. No one in its 51-year history, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, had won this award.

“Jackson Koivun is incredibly deserving of this prestigious honor,” Auburn athletics director John Cohen said.

What Cohen said is absolutely true. In three Auburn seasons, Koivun compiled 11 career wins and a school-record 68.20 scoring average (2025-26), the best in NCAA history.

His freshman season had already signaled how special he is. Besides helping Auburn win the NCAA title that year, Koivun became the first college golfer in history to win the Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Phil Mickelson awards in the same season. In fact, he won the Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan, and Jack Nicklaus awards for a record second time in the 2025-2026 season, his junior year.

Apart from that, Koivun won six of his final ten starts. His 68.20 scoring average is the best in NCAA history, breaking the previous record of Collin Morikawa (68.89).

Koivun has transitioned that momentum into his professional career, too. Although he missed the cut in his professional debut, he won in his third start as a PGA Tour pro. The 21-year-old carded rounds of 64-68-61-66 to win the 3M Open and a lion’s share of $1,584,000. He even held Scottie Scheffler back, who charged with a final round of 8-under 63 but fell short by three strokes.

Besides that win, Koivun also played in the U.S. Open 2026 as an amateur. Playing against the best golfers in the world, he finished T23, which was even better than Rory McIlroy’s T32.

After losing to him at the 3M Open, Scheffler said that Koivun’s first win showed “not only how talented a player he is, but I think the mental strength he has as well.”

Justin Thomas, after practice rounds with Koivun, said the youngster is “really good” and “thinks about things correctly.”

Even the legendary Jack Nicklaus couldn’t hold himself back. After Koivun’s victory at the 3M Open, Nicklaus took to social media and wrote, “We certainly knew Jackson Koivun was going to make an impression on the @pgatour, but we didn’t know how soon. And not sure we thought this soon! What @jackson_koivun did this week at the @3mopen was simply a great performance.”

Nicklaus even acknowledged how Scheffler, chasing him, didn’t even “faze” the 21-year-old. Reflecting on the young pro’s college and amateur career, the Golden Bear said that this was just the start of an amazing professional career.

Koivun is now eyeing the Wyndham Championship (August 6-9), where he will need a powerful performance to make the FedExCup Playoffs. After winning the 3M, he confirmed his target.

“Yeah, I’m going to try to cherish this tonight and then mental reset heading over to the Rocket Classic tomorrow and playing the Wyndham Championship. There’s still work to do to hopefully make that FedExCup.”

70th in the standings, Koivun will tee off in round 1 alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Sahith Theegala at 12:54 p.m. EDT.