Qualifiers for all 2026 Signature Events, THE PLAYERS and majors

No trajectory promises anything. Even when work, drive, dedication, sacrifice and an array of other factors are contributing to seemingly limitless talent, it’s never as easy as it looks when it looks easy. Despite that, it’s difficult not to look ahead and buy into foregone conclusions.

Think of a victory celebration for any team that’s won its league championship, and you probably witnessed at least one player having vocalized winning it again the following year. It’s a crowd pleaser, but if you’re already focused on next year during this year’s party, then pump the brakes and bask in the moment of what just happened.

That’s a heady premise for 21-year-old Jackson Koivun, winner of the 3M Open on Sunday. Koivun’s coronation occurred in just his third start as a professional, and by three strokes en route to a tournament-record, 25-under 259 at TPC Twin Cities no less. The runner-up was Scottie Scheffler, who has the same number of PGA TOUR victories in 17 starts this season.

Koivun earned his PGA TOUR card via PGA TOUR University Accelerated – in 2025. He deferred membership in part so that he could win another national championship with his boys at Auburn University, which they did, but he also acknowledged that he needed more time to mature after qualifying for TOUR membership. Koivun also spent a year atop the World Amateur Golf Ranking and walked off his collegiate days as the No. 1. Now he’s fully exempt as a TOUR champion through 2028. This is how it’s done.

For as much caution as he exhibited in advance of the next step, there’s as much anticipation for what he’s going to do with it. Well, by winning the 3M Open, he’s qualified for THE PLAYERS Championship, the Masters and the PGA Championship next year. By rising to approximately 75th in the Official World Golf Ranking, Koivun already has tilted his trajectory with a stronger angle toward the sky in advance of future berths into the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. While not locks yet, it’s easy to connect where he is now with the expectation that both are foregone conclusions.

All of this is to say that it really isn’t this easy. Sure, he can expect to check off those goals, but he still has to put in the work, which he will. Instead of hanging expectations all over him, our perspective is better rooted in his strength relative to others who never have tasted victory on the PGA TOUR and/or played in a major.

Celebrating what he’s achieved as it happens and allowing it to digest is true fulfillment. He’ll get around to chasing other goals later, anyway.

NOTE: The opening list of qualifiers for the 2027 season will publish in the coming weeks.