Jackson Koivun arrives in style, Lucas Glover takes off his shoes, and the greatest golf dad moment
We are so back. For those wondering why Par Talk disappeared over the last month, the best weekly golf column on the Internet took a sabbatical as I went on paternity leave. In late June, I went from being just a boy dad to now a member of the girl dad gang and a father of two under four. Life is busy, but oh so good.
Some things happened in the golf world while we were on our brief hiatus. Ryan Fox won The Open, Bryson DeChambeau stomped on some grass, Scottie Scheffler continues to be the best player on Earth but can't buy a victory, and we'd be remiss to not mention Chris Gotterup winning the John Deere Classic and suddenly becoming the No. 7 player in the world.
As for this past weekend's 3M Open, everyone was expecting a hangover of epic proportions as the event following The Open and final major championship of the year, but the golf gods smiled upon us with Jackson Koivun finding the winner's circle in what was just his third start as a professional.
JACKSON KOIVUN HOLDS OFF SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER TO WIN FIRST PGA TOUR EVENT JUST 24 DAYS INTO PRO CAREER
All Koivun did for his maiden victory on Tour was fire a bogey-free 66 to win by three shots over the No. 1 player in the world, who was very much in hunting mode with his own final-round 63. Not bad for a 21-year-old who was playing college golf at Auburn a few months ago. We'll dive into Koivun's masterful week and other moments worth mentioning below. It's great to be back.
This is Par Talk, a weekly read to get you caught up on all the happenings that took place in professional golf that you need to know. You can follow Mark on X @itismarkharris and email him at mark.harris@outkick.com.
Well, that escalated quickly.
You can name just about anything involving collegiate golf, and Jackson Koivun accomplished it during his three-year career at Auburn. The California kid won every award, won countless events, and became the No. 1 amateur in the world. He has carried the title of 'the next big thing' for years, but unlike many who have earned that expectation, he essentially immediately met it.
Despite earning his PGA Tour card through the Tour's University program in 2025, he returned to Auburn and kept his amateur status all the way through the 2026 U.S. Open, where he finished T-23. He turned professional immediately after, and surprisingly missed the cut at the John Deere Classic in his professional debut.
Fast-forward just three weeks and two starts later, and Koivun is now a winner on the PGA Tour, and made things look way easier than they actually were. He missed just 11 greens and 12 fairways for the entire week, made all of three bogeys across 72 holes, and picked up over nine shots on the field with his approach play alone. Those aren't supposed to be achievable numbers for a guy making his third start as a professional.
As for Sunday's final round, well, it was about as good as they come given the situation. While Koivun did start the day with a three-shot lead, three-shot leads can vanish in a hurry when you're a rookie and see the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Hideki Matsuyama, and Brian Harman surging up the leaderboard. Koivun didn't blink, however, and the fact that he went bogey-free on that stage – one he'd never stepped foot on – is as impressive as it gets.
On the topic of expectations, they only increase for Koivun moving forward. Earning a spot in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, making the Presidents Cup team, and picking up more victories before the calendar flips to 2027 are all now, fairly or unfairly, very much on the table.
Outside of Koivun earning his first win on Tour and Scheffler firing a final-round 63, the best moment from Sunday's final round at the 3M involved former U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover taking off his shoes after making a putt in the middle of his round.
Glover made a 10-footer for birdie on the 10th hole, and instead of walking to the hole and picking up his ball, he walked to the fringe and slid off his golf shoes.
While everyone assumed that Glover's actions were a protest of the AimPoint method that many players on Tour use these days to read putts, it turns out that he was being mindful of his spike marks on the greens, something he was reportedly told to do by an official during the round.
It would have been way, way cooler if he was protesting AimPoint, which not only adds time to rounds, but also foot traffic around the hole. Glover is an outspoken critic of AimPoint, so maybe his tossing off his shoes was a mixture of being mindful of his spikes and also a protest. That's the way we're going to choose to look at it, at least.
Paternity leave the second time around as a father looks much different than the first. During my time off, it's been the three-and-a-half-year-old and me most of the time while momma is with baby girl. Luckily for me, my son is obsessed with golf, and we got to spend a ton of time on the course together during the break, but our twilight nine holes on Sunday evening stand above them all.
It was approximately 173 degrees where we live on Sunday, but the toddler was determined to hit the course. Aside from looking like we had both jumped into a pool by the second tee, it was our typical great time out there, and then we made it to the ninth green.
After hitting his first tee shot into a greenside bunker, the toddler wanted to re-tee. He found the green with ball No. 2, and while he was putting out and I was sweating gallons while raking the bunker after retrieving his golf ball, I turned around to see him grab his ball from the cup.
His next move was removing his hat and his sunglasses. I thought nothing of it and just assumed he was cooling off, knowing we were done with our round. He stood there for a few seconds just looking at me, almost expecting me to do something.
I didn't know what that something was, so I asked him what was wrong. He responded by asking me if he could give me a hug.
I said of course, and as he latched onto my leg, both of us soaked in sweat, he said "That's what players do."
I admittedly haven't gotten into the etiquette rules of golf with him at this point – after all, he's only three – but he picked up that players give hugs and handshakes after they're done playing by watching golf on TV with me.
I am one proud, blessed dad.