AUBURN, Ala. – For the third year in a row, Auburn’s Jackson Koivun has been named a top three finalist for the Ben Hogan Award, the Hogan Foundation announced Tuesday.
Koivun joins Maverick McNealy (Stanford) as the only three-time finalists in the award’s history.
This year, his fellow finalists are Oklahoma State junior Preston Stout and Virginia senior Ben James. They represent the top three players in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR), with Koivun at one, Stout at two and James at three.
All three men will attend a black-tie dinner Monday, May 25, at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, where the winner will be crowned.
The Ben Hogan Award is given annually to 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.
In 2024, Koivun joined Oklahoma State’s Rickie Fowler (2008) as the only men to win the award as freshmen. Last spring, he was named a finalist yet again, but top honors went to Florida State’s Luke Clanton.
If Koivun were to win the Hogan again this season, he would join Arizona State’s Jon Rahm (2015, 2016) and Texas Tech’s Ludvig Aberg (2022, 2023) as the only multi-time winners in history.
The reigning SEC Player of the Year for 732 days and counting, Koivun, has made his case for national player of the year an undeniable one as he’s earned six wins in eight starts since February, setting Auburn’s career wins record and tying the conference’s career wins record in the process.
The junior from Chapel Hill, North Carolina has made a team-leading 167 birdies and carded 26 of 33 rounds at par or better while averaging 67.88 shots per round. Eleven of his 12 starts this season have resulted in a top 10 or better. Koivun’s worst finish was a T17th in the first tournament of the fall, which was ironically, The Ben Hogan Collegiate.
As an amateur, Koivun represented the United States at both the 2025 Arnold Palmer Cup and 2025 Walker Cup, where at the latter, he led the Stars & Stripes to a fifth consecutive title over Team Great Britain and Ireland.
He also had a dazzling summer on the professional circuit, making six cuts in seven starts on the PGA Tour. After a missed cut at the U.S. Open, Koivun locked in and went to work. He earned a T11 at the John Deere Classic in July and followed it up with a T6 at the ISCO Championship, a T5 at the Wyndham Championship, and finally, a T4 at the Procore Championship in early September.
Koivun and the No. 1 Tigers kick off the NCAA Tournament next week, May 18-20, at the NCAA Athens Regional at the UGA Golf Course in Athens, Georgia. Public admission is free for the entirety of the event.