NEW YORK – Auburn sophomore Jackson Koivun was named a semifinalist for the 95th Amateur Athletic Union Sullivan Award on Tuesday for his efforts last season after leading the Tigers to their first national title while piecing together one of the most brilliant individual campaigns in the history of collegiate golf.
The AAU Sullivan Award has been given out since 1930 to the nation's best athlete at the Olympic, collegiate or similar elite level. The illustrious list of previous winners includes Wilma Rudolph (1961), Carl Lewis (1981), Peyton Manning (1997), Michael Phelps (2003), Tim Tebow (2007), Shawn Johnson (2008), Caleb Dressel (2020), and Caitlin Clark (2022 & 2023).
Last year, Koivun exploded onto the collegiate golf scene, earning First Team All-SEC and First Team All-America honors as a true freshman. He became the first man in the history of the sport to sweep the Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson National Player of the Year Awards in the same season. He was also just the third player, and first in a decade, to earn SEC Freshman and Player of the Year simultaneously.
Koivun logged two wins and 11 top-five finishes in 13 starts while also going 8-0 in match play to lead the Tigers to their fifth conference crown and first-ever national championship at the end of the 2023-24 season.
Only two golfers have ever won the Sullivan Award – Robert T. Jones (1930), the award’s inaugural winner, and Lawson Little (1935). Koivun joins Mississippi State’s Julia Lopez Ramirez as the lone golfers among this year’s semifinalists.
Koivun stands alongside a crop of 38 fellow semifinalists that includes the likes of Travis Hunter, Katie Ledecky, Stephen Nedoroscik and Paige Bueckers, among others.
A public vote from Tuesday, Feb. 18 through Tuesday, Feb. 25 will determine this year’s finalists. A second voting period in March will determine the winner. All finalists will gather at the New York Athletic Club on Tuesday, April 15 where the award's recipient will be announced.