Jackson Koivun apparently believes that his hopes of making this year’s Presidents Cup have been dashed after he failed to make it into the field for the BMW Championship.
There have been plenty of calls for Koivun to be included on Brandt Snedeker’s team after he won the 3M Open last month.
Not only was Koivun making only his third professional start on the PGA Tour at TPC Twin Cities, but he also got across the line with Scottie Scheffler as his closest challenger.
For many, it seemed to confirm that Snedeker simply had to include Jackson Koivun on his team for Medinah in September.
Jackson Koivun left pessimistic about his Presidents Cup chances
Though Snedeker will not admit it, Team USA would surely be foolish to not use this year’s Presidents Cup as an opportunity to take one or two risks ahead of the Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.
Unfortunately, the International Team are unlikely to really trouble the Americans. So bringing someone like Koivun into the mix to give him that experience seems like a no-brainer.
However, he has certainly not helped his cause by failing to get past the first FedEx Cup playoff event. Koivun is 67th in the standings following his 24th place finish at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
And speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Rex Hoggard revealed to Ryan Lavner – who insisted that Koivun had to be on the team after his win – that the youngster himself does not expect a pick now.
“To be fair, I had the chance to talk with Jackson Koivun after his round today in Memphis. Even he told me he has not done enough,” he said.
“He felt like he needed to make it all the way to East Lake to give Brandt Snedeker, the captain of the US team, something to think about. He did add that he feels like he would play well for that team. He feels like he could contribute to that team. But he admitted that, ‘no, I don’t think that I’ve done enough to prove to the captain that I should be on that team’.
“He had three events to prove to the captain that he should be on that team. All he’s done since then is not finish inside the top 20. I will give him style points for what he did at the Wyndham Championship, just getting to the first playoff event, because what he did on that final nine was very impressive. However, he has not done anything to separate himself.
“He’s actually gone from 51st on the US points list to 53rd. He has regressed. He has gone backwards, for whatever reason. And I actually defended him because I knew this was going to be physically demanding and he told me this afternoon it was very physically demanding. I asked him what have you learned? And he said, ‘I have learned I’m not superhuman, that this is really tough, that I need to take better care of myself, I need to learn things about this’.
“I’ll also repeat what I said then, he’s going to play on a lot of US teams. However, the idea of find someone to kick off just to get Jackson Koivun on that team, just to get him some reps going forward is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard you say, and I’ve heard you say a lot of ridiculous things.”
Why Jackson Koivun should still be considered for the Presidents Cup despite his FedEx Cup exit
There is still an argument that Koivun has to be in the conversation ahead of the Presidents Cup.
Obviously, Snedeker will not want to do anything that increases the likelihood of him becoming only the second ever American captain to lose at the event. But Team USA needs to start looking at the long-term picture.
The Presidents Cup is an ideal stepping stone for those hoping to make the Ryder Cup team next year. And Koivun should be one of the players with his sights set on that goal for 2027.
Interestingly, Lavner suggested in response that he would still be seriously tempted to include Koivun on his team.
“If you’re matching Tiger Woods for the fewest possible starts to make the FedEx Cup playoffs, that carries a lot of weight. Again, I do not pay any attention to the points standings for the Presidents Cup team,” he said.
“Of course, he is outside the top 50 in points. He just turned professional. He was not accruing points last season because he was not playing consistently on the PGA Tour. I think the greater point here, and the argument, is if not Jackson Koivun, then who?
“I feel really good about four players that you would have for captain’s picks. It would be Collin Morikawa, Chris Gotterup, Xander Schauffele, and Wyndham Clark. After that, you can poke holes in a lot of players.
“Right now, one of those players, Ben Griffin is outside the top 20 Americans according to Data Golf over the past six months. Right now, he would be an automatic qualifier as we head into the BMW Championship.
“That’s the last qualifying event, but you could poke holes in Justin Thomas’ resume, you could poke holes in a player like Patrick Cantlay’s resume, who again, I think would probably get the nod based on what he’s done over the past couple of months as well. J.J. Spaun has not played particularly well.
“Look at 12 on that list, Jacob Bridgeman, he has not done much of anything since Riviera. Akshay Bhatia, he just finished last among those who were playing in Memphis. It’s not like all of the other players have gone above and beyond and had these great audition tapes.
“If you’re Brandt Snedeker and you want to have a bit of a wildcard pick, I think you could do worse than have a generationally great player, at least that’s what we’re projecting in Jackson Koivun.”
It would be a real shame if Snedeker replicated what Jim Furyk did two years ago and simply picked the next six names on the list.
The only two rookies Furyk selected were 35-year-old Russell Henley and 37-year-old Brian Harman. Harman had already made his Ryder Cup debut the previous year.
Picking Koivun or Michael Brennan or Michael Thorbjornsen would create a much-needed buzz ahead of the Presidents Cup.
Team USA desperately needs to find out who has that extra gear when representing their country in a matchplay format.