Earning an invite to go out and compete in the first PGA Tour event of the fall season, Auburn’s Jackson Koivun made the most of his time out in California for the Procore Championship.

Going straight to Napa after helping Team USA win the Walker Cup at Pebble Beach, Koivun once again showed he belongs with the pros finishing tied for fourth in the event. Koivun went into Sunday in second place after three strong days, playing alongside Ben Griffin in the final pairing of the day for the event. It was Koivun’s first time playing in the final pairing of a PGA Tour event in his young career.

He opened up with rounds of 5-under (67) on Thursday and 6-under (66) on Friday to very comfortably make the cut and be firmly in contention to potentially win the event heading into the weekend. His Saturday round got off to a slow start, though, with bogeys on holes No. 3 and 4 to fall behind. He responded with birdies on holes No. 8, 11, 14, 15 and an eagle on 12 to finish his round with a 4-under (68).

Sunday’s round, unfortunately for Koivun, was his worst. It was still a round under par, but not enough to keep up with the fireworks of Griffin and Scottie Scheffler at the top of the leaderboard as Koivun shot a 1-under (69), finishing three strokes behind Scheffler who entered the day two strokes back and in third place, ultimately winning the event at 19-under.

Koivun finished third in strokes gained in approach to green and eighth in strokes gained putting at the event. 

Still, it was another strong showing for Auburn’s superstar junior golfer out alongside the pros. He went into the event on a really strong run in PGA Tour events with his last three finishes being a T11 at the John Deere Classic in June, T6 at the ISCO Championship in July and T5 at the Wyndham Championship in August. 

In the final PGA Tour event before the Ryder Cup, it was a stronger than usual field in a fall event on the Tour as 10 of the 12 members on Team USA played to get ready for the event. Koivun finished behind Scottie Scheffler and Ben Griffin but ahead of J.J. Spaun, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Patrick Cantlay, Harris English, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas who will all represent the United States later this month in golf’s biennial event.

Koivun already has his PGA Tour card secured but played the event as an amateur as he’s continuously planned to return to Auburn for his junior season.

He will be absent from the Tigers’ first event of the season, though, which starts Monday at the Invitational at the Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee. It was too quick a turnaround for Koivun to get out to Tennessee for the event, so head coach Nick Clinard and No. 2 Auburn will roll out a lineup with juniors Josiah Gilbert and Cayden Pope, sophomore Billy Davis and true freshmen Logan Reilly and Jake Albert.

Auburn’s next event is the Ben Hogan Collegiate beginning on Sept. 29, giving Koivun a chance to reset and get back to the Plains and rejoin the lineup. Though, Koivun’s finish at the Procore Championship earned him an invite to the Sanderson Farms Championship on Oct. 2 for the next PGA Tour event of the fall.