{"id":98293,"date":"2026-07-26T03:23:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:23:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/rising-star-jackson-koivun-leads-3m-open-but-scottie-scheffler-lurks\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T03:23:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T03:23:42","slug":"rising-star-jackson-koivun-leads-3m-open-but-scottie-scheffler-lurks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/rising-star-jackson-koivun-leads-3m-open-but-scottie-scheffler-lurks\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising star Jackson Koivun leads 3M Open but Scottie Scheffler lurks"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
\"Getty
Jackson Koivun shot a 10-under 61 on Saturday and holds the 54-hole lead at the 3M Open.Getty Images<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

When Scottie Scheffler tapped in for birdie on the 18th hole Saturday \u2014 the final stroke of a superb seven-under 64 \u2014 he made it a seven-way tie for first place and officially changed the narrative of the 3M Open.<\/p>\n

Eighty minutes later, Jackson Koivun rewrote it.<\/p>\n

Koivun fired a 10-under 61 \u2014 which included a record eight-under 28 on the back nine \u2014 and at 20 under holds the 54-hole lead at TPC Twin Cities. Long-touted as the game\u2019s top rising star<\/a>, the 21-year-old pro now has his best chance to prove it. He enters Sunday with a three-shot lead over Emiliano Grillo and Ben Kohles. Koivun and Grillo make up the final pairing and tee off at 1:40 p.m. ET on Sunday. Scheffler is six back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling great,\u201d Koivun said. \u201cExcited, ready for tomorrow. It\u2019s going to be definitely a test. I\u2019m sure some of the pins will be tucked and we\u2019ve got a lot of great players behind me, but just going to stick to my game plan and try to smile.\u201d<\/p>\n

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305-yard approach from the 21-year-old \ud83e\udd2f<\/p>\n

Jackson Koivun soars up the leaderboard with an eagle @3MOpen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udcfa CBS pic.twitter.com\/YxrI5tNm0y<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 25, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Koivun was the top-ranked amateur in the class of 2023, signed with Auburn and put together one of the best freshman seasons in history. He became the first college player to win all four major accolades \u2014 the Phil Mickelson (top freshman), Haskins, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus awards \u2014 and won the Haskins, Hogan and Nicklaus again this year. He turned 21 in May, helped Auburn to its second NCAA team title in three years in June and turned pro<\/a> a couple of weeks later.<\/p>\n

This week is his 13th career start on the PGA Tour but just his third as a professional. In those previous dozen he\u2019s finished in the top 25 six times and top-six three times.<\/p>\n

Before Koivun vaulted up the leaderboard Saturday, Scheffler made a move. He started the day seven under and seven back of 36-hole leader Michael Kim, who shot 59 on Friday. Scheffler was even par on the front nine \u2014 two birdies, two bogeys \u2014 but got hot after the turn.<\/p>\n

Scheffler birdied 10, 11, 12 and 15, and on 16, the short drivable par-4, he chipped in for eagle.<\/p>\n

Scheffler\u2019s final birdie came on the par-5 18th. He had 36 feet remaining for eagle \u2014 a putt had he made would have given him the back-nine record (28) \u2014 but Scheffler missed on the high side and settled for a tap-in birdie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept myself in the tournament with a good back nine today,\u201d Scheffler said. \u201cOverall definitely pleased with the back nine, but probably going to need another low number tomorrow if I want to keep the pace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just over an hour later, Koivun was the one who notched that record 28.<\/p>\n

He was just one under through eight on the front nine, but he birdied 9 and 10 and then took the lead on 12 when he hit a 305-yard 3-wood to the middle of the green and made the 12-foot eagle putt.<\/p>\n

He birdied 13, drove the green and birdied 16, made another on 17 and then rolled in a 14-footer for eagle on 18 \u2014 his second in seven holes.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s in position for his first victory on the PGA Tour. It didn\u2019t take long to get in this position, but now comes the hard part \u2014 finishing with someone like Scheffler chasing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s obviously the best in the world for a reason,\u201d Koivun said. \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s going to go up there and put a good number and get in contention.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post Rising star Jackson Koivun leads 3M Open but Scottie Scheffler lurks<\/a> appeared first on Golf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jackson Koivun shot a 10-under 61 on Saturday and holds the 54-hole lead at the 3M Open.Getty Images When Scottie Scheffler tapped in for birdie on the 18th hole Saturday \u2014 the final stroke of a superb seven-under 64 \u2014 he made it a seven-way tie for first place and officially changed the narrative of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4312,30001,1134,30002,676,1728,22365,22364,1082],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fallsurfing.net\/firstnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}