FORT WORTH, Texas – Auburn men’s golf junior Jackson Koivun has been named a top 10 semifinalist for the 2026 Ben Hogan Award presented by Baird, the Hogan Foundation announced Thursday.
Since 2002, the Ben Hogan Award annually honors the top men's NCAA Division I, II or III, NAIA or NJCAA college golfer based on all collegiate, amateur and professional events over the previous 12 months. An esteemed selection committee votes during each stage of the process. The selection committee is comprised of more than 30 leaders in collegiate, amateur and professional golf.
The nine additional semifinalists are Mahanth Chirravuri (Pepperdine), Ryder Cowan (Oklahoma), Ehan Fang (Oklahoma State), Filip Jakubcik (Arizona), Ben James (Virginia), Christiaan Maas (Texas), Preston Stout (Oklahoma State), Harry Takis (San Diego State) and Tyler Weaver (Florida State).
Koivun joins Virginia’s James as just the 11th and 12th men in the award’s history to be named a three-time semifinalist. Two seasons ago, he became just the second freshman to win the award when he was crowned in 2024. Last spring, he was named a top-three finalist, but the win belonged to Florida State’s Luke Clanton.
As an early favorite for this year’s Hogan, Koivun aims to join Arizona State’s Jon Rahm (2015, 16) and Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg (2022, 23) as the only two-time winners.
In seven starts this spring, Koivun blistered through the competition, racking up five individual wins while leading the No. 1 Tigers to three team wins and four runner-up finishes. The Chapel Hill, North Carolina native broke Auburn’s program record with his seventh career win at The Gator Invitational in February and has gone on to win thrice since then, cementing his place as one of just 21 players, and one of two from the Southeastern Conference, to amass double-digit wins in their careers.
On the season, Koivun averages 68.30 strokes per round and has collected an eye-popping nine top 10s, with 23 of his 30 rounds coming at or below par. He’s birdied a team-leading 145 times to bring his career total to 481, the seventh most in school history.
Auburn tees off the postseason next week, April 22-26, when it goes for conference glory at the 2026 SEC Championship, hosted by Seaside Golf Club on St. Simons Island, Georgia.