Earlier this week I read a preposterous opinion piece in AL.com regarding Jackson Koinvun’s win at the 3M this past weekend. In a single breath, this article compares the PGA tour rookie to Bobby Jones, Jack Nichalaus, and ponders the question “Is this guy the next Tiger Woods?”

I am an Auburn fan through and through. Always have been. I want nothing more than “the next Tiger Woods” to be a guy I can latch on to the same way Alabama fans do to half the NFL. That being said, as an Auburn fan, I am all too familiar with overhyping and the dangers it can have on its recipients. Jackson Koivun has been the subject of a lot of discussion regarding just how high his ceiling is. His accolades speak for themselves, being the first player in collegiate golf to sweep all major awards in a year, two-time Ben Hogan award winner, two time national champion, 56 weeks being ranked as the world #1 amateur and now a PGA tour win after three starts. All of this is cause for genuine excitement and discussion of what the future holds for the young pro.

However, this discussion has quickly evolved into some of the thirstiest grasping at straws I have seen since Cameron Champ was blowing people away with very impressive club head speeds. Koivun is amazing, and I think has more concrete traits than a Matt Wolfe or Gordon Sargent, but this does not mean we can start comparing him to generational athletes after a single mostly-convincing win at one of the sleepiest venues the PGA tour roster has to offer.

To make an Auburn reference, I had the fortune of going to the first Iron Bowl game to ever go into overtime, in 2021. The game was close the whole way through, but Auburn was up seven with a minute and a half left on the clock, Alabama ball. The game had been low scoring all night, so certain members of the Auburn student section had decided that the game was already won and decided to start lining up to storm the field in what would surely be an amazing finish for the Tigers. At this moment, I remember being filled with anger. “They jumped the gun!” I thought, “they’re celebrating a win when it's ALABAMA with the football.” Auburn lost that game in quadruple overtime, destroying me and putting Auburn football into a spiral we haven't recovered from.

This is the exact reason why the Koivun discussion irks me. I want him more than anything than for him to be a dominant force in the sport I love watching, but watching all of these people refusing to live in the moment and instead jumping to him already being one of the greatest athletes of all time robs us of the potential of seeing his career develop organically. I say we slow down and appreciate Jackson for what he is, a very promising young player with the potential to be great.

That being said, War Eagle.