Jackson Koivun Matches Tiger Woods’ Record After Qualifying for 2026 FedEx Cup Playoffs

Jackson Koivun qualified for the 2026 FedEx Cup playoffs with a T29 finish at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday.

Jackson Koivun Matches Tiger Woods’ Record After Qualifying for 2026 FedEx Cup Playoffs

Jackson Koivun and Tiger Woods (Image via PGA Tour/Imago)

Jackson Koivun is heading to the 2026 FedEx Cup playoffs. The 21-year-old finished T29 at the Wyndham Championship and booked his place in the three-legged playoffs starting next week. By qualifying for this, he matched a record held by none other than Tiger Woods.

Koivun, the Auburn University alum, has been on fire this year. During the 2026 collegiate golf season, he won 6 individual titles and guided the Auburn Tigers to the 2026 NCAA Men’s Golf Team National Championship.

At the U.S. Open this year, he played as an amateur. With scores of 72-71-74-68, he finished T23 and was one of the co-highest-ranked amateur golfers along with Ryder Cowan, who also stole the show at Shinnecock Hills.

In July, Koivun turned pro and made his first start as a professional at the John Deere Classic. While he missed the cut in this, he went on to finish T10 at the ISCO Championship.

At the 3M Open, he made history. In just his 3rd start, he found himself battling World No.1 Scottie Scheffler for the title. The youngster held off the 4-time major champion to claim his 1st victory on the PGA Tour.

After his T31 finish at the Rocket Classic last week, Koivun found himself on the bubble for the FedEx Cup playoffs. He was ranked 70th and knew that a strong finish could help him qualify for the playoffs.

A round of 66 on Saturday moved him into the top 15 on the leaderboard. Despite falling to T29 with a score of 71, he managed to stay inside the bubble and finished 70th in the standings. He thus qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs with just 5 professional starts.

When there is a golf record, there is a high chance that Tiger Woods’ name will be attached to it. While Jackson Koivun’s 5 starts to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs are the fewest of any player since it moved to a top-70 format, he is just the 2nd player after Woods to make it to the playoffs with just 5 starts.

Woods did so during the 2019-2020 season. He won the Zozo Championship (his record-tying 82nd PGA Tour win) and finished T9 at the Farmers Insurance Open, 68 at the Genesis Invitational, T40 at the Memorial Tournament, and T37 at the PGA Championship. He then played in the first two playoff rounds and failed to qualify for the Tour Championship.

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Jackson Koivun comments on reaching the FedEx Cup playoffs in just 5 starts

Jackson Koivun has had a rapid rise on the PGA Tour. After just 5 starts, the young golfer will play in the FedEx Cup playoffs after finishing inside the bubble in 70th place in the standings.

Jackson Koivun
Jackson Koivun (Image via X/@PGATOUR)

Koivun’s 5 starts to qualify for the playoffs are the joint-fewest by any player. When told about this, he claimed it was good to have their name associated with Tiger Woods.

It’s pretty cool. Obviously, whenever you’re in the record books with Tiger it’s a good name to get acquainted with. Not quite there yet, so just got to wait it out.

Jackson Koivun told the reporters as per PGA Tour

While Koivun will be in Memphis next week for the St. Jude Championship, there are some big names who failed to qualify for the playoffs. One of them is 5-time major champion Brooks Koepka.

The former World No.1 needed a solo-fourth finish or better to qualify for the playoffs. After a decent start, he stumbled in the 3rd round and finished T67 after the final round. He thus failed to reach the playoffs during his dramatic return to the PGA Tour earlier this season.

Another top name who suffered disappointment was Keegan Bradley. The 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain, who had a difficult start to the season, was 72nd in the standings before the Wyndham Championship and needed to finish in a two-way tie for 38th or better to qualify.

He finished T49 and fell to 74 in the standings. This saw his streak of 15 successive playoff appearances come to an end. Meanwhile, Jason Day‘s 18-playoff streak also came to an end after a painful exit following a missed cut this past weekend.

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