Auburn University sophomore Jackson Koivun is a step closer to earning a PGA Tour card after making the cut in the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Koivun, 19, earned his 19th point in the PGA Tour University Accelerated program by advancing to the weekend at Bay Hill with rounds of 72-72. He was the lone amateur in the signature event field as the Arnold Palmer Cup Award recipient. The threshold to earn a PGA Tour card is 20 points.
Koivun, who had a chance to earn his 20th point with a top-10 result, finished T48 after a 75-75 weekend. Still, Koivun is well positioned to become the third player to earn a tour card through PGA Tour U Accelerated, joining Luke Clanton and Gordon Sargent, who are expected to join the tour upon conclusion of the college golf season this spring.
Were he to earn his card in the near term, Koivun said he would likely defer his eligibility until after the 2026 college season. “I think there’s definitely some steps I need to take before I can come out here and compete with these guys week in and week out,” he said. “So I think going back to Auburn and playing some college golf would definitely be helpful.” READ MORE
After two White House meetings in recent weeks with President Donald Trump, there is still no news on any progress toward an agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund that in theory would reunify professional golf.
At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said no further meetings with the president have been scheduled. The most recent meeting on Feb. 20 included Trump, Monahan, player directors Adam Scott and Tiger Woods and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
Even so, Monahan continued to strike a positive tone about the potential for a deal given the president’s involvement. “The dynamic he brings is he’s the leader of the free world and he has an active interest in reunifying the game,” Monahan said. “He’s in an incredibly strong position to do so, and his willingness to do so obviously changes the dynamic. I don’t think we would have the cadence and we’d be in the position we’re in to get a deal done but for the president.”
Amid Monahan’s optimism about ending the schism between the tour and PIF-backed LIV Golf, Rory McIlroy isn’t so sure a deal is necessary.
“I think the narrative around golf would welcome a deal in terms of just having all the best players together again,” McIlroy said at Bay Hill. “But I don’t think the PGA Tour needs a deal. I think the momentum is pretty strong. As you say, TV’s been good, TGL’s been hopefully pretty additive to the overall situation. I think it would still be the ideal scenario for golf as a whole. But from a pure PGA Tour perspective, I don’t think it necessarily needs it.” READ MORE
World No. 2 Xander Schauffele had mixed results in his return to competition at the Arnold Palmer Invitational following a two-month layoff due to a rib-cage injury.
After opening with 77, Schauffele made consecutive double bogeys on Nos. 11 and 12 at Bay Hill Friday and appeared headed for an early exit. But he rallied for three birdies over his last six holes for a 71 and made the cut on the number, extending his streak of made cuts to 58 in a row. It’s the sixth-longest in PGA Tour history behind Tiger Woods (142), Byron Nelson (113), Jack Nicklaus (105), Hale Irwin (86) and Dow Finsterwald (72). READ MORE
Reaction to Annika Sörenstam’s recent statement supporting former Women’s Tennis Association and Pac-12 Conference chief Larry Scott as a candidate to be the next LPGA commissioner was swift and strong.
Scott critics such as Oregon sports columnist John Canzano suggest that he deserves blame for the downfall of the Pac-12, which has shrunk to two member schools since his 2021 departure, though it is slated to expand to eight schools in 2026.
Longtime University of Washington women’s golf coach Mary Lou Mulflur voiced similar sentiments in a Golfweek report published last week. “It was the demise of our conference, and I have no problem saying that he is a large part of the responsibility,” she said.
For her part, Sörenstam alluded to similarities between the LPGA commissioner’s job and Scott’s past WTA role in a Golf Channel interview last Monday but signaled that she will leave the decision to the LPGA’s selection committee and search firm.
“I’m nothing more than just sitting on the sidelines now and watching and [hoping] that they will pick the right person for this job,” she said. READ MORE
One of the most intriguing Arnold Palmer Invitational pairings comprised veteran caddie Joe LaCava and his son, Joe LaCava IV, who looped in the same group Thursday and Friday for their respective players, Patrick Cantlay and Joe Highsmith. The elder LaCava is best known for his tenure on the bags of Fred Couples and Tiger Woods, while the younger caddied Highsmith to victory in the Cognizant Classic the Sunday prior to Bay Hill. READ MORE
The 2025 Australian WPGA Championship, a Ladies European Tour event at Sanctuary Cove Golf & Country Club on the Gold Coast in Queensland that was scheduled to start last Thursday, was canceled ahead of the first day’s play due to the impending impact of Cyclone Alfred.
While Alfred weakened before making landfall near Brisbane on Saturday, it left hundreds of thousands of people without power in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales after the storm caused widespread flooding and knocked down power lines and trees. The LET plays this week and the next in New South Wales: the Australian Women's Classic at Coffs Harbour and the Ford Women's NSW Open at Wollongong. READ MORE
Tap-Ins
World No. 4 Ludvig Åberg is one of four PGA Tour players who signaled their intention to leave the Wasserman management stable to join agent Butler Melnyk, who left the firm recently, Sports Business Journal reported. Sepp Straka, Austin Eckroat and Kevin Kisner were listed with Åberg under “Butler Melnyk Agency” in an official PGA Tour player/manager list SBJ obtained last Thursday. READ MORE
Corey Connors qualified for the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush via his third-place finish in the Arnold Palmer Invitational. The Canadian finished 9-under par, one shot ahead of Michael Kim, to seal his sixth successive appearance in the Open. The next event in the Open Qualifying Series is the International Series Macau played March 20-23. READ MORE
In an interview with a Seattle radio station last week, Fred Couples said five-time major winner Brooks Koepka, whom he said he talks to “all the time,” wants to return to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf. READ MORE
Players from 27 countries and territories already are part of the 92-man field for the 2025 Masters, breaking the record of 25 set in 2015. READ MORE
3M extended its title sponsorship of the PGA Tour’s 3M Open through 2030. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity