A tune-up for Medinah has turned into a full-fledged chase for career victory No. 2 for Jackson Koivun in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Koivun turned in a bogey-free, 8-under 63 on Saturday to move up the Biltmore Championship leaderboard and put himself into contention during Sunday’s final round.
The 54-hole outcome of Koivun shouldn’t necessarily come as that big of a surprise, as the Tour rookie did enter the tournament as the favorite to win.
Nonetheless, he was facing a fairly significant deficit after 36 holes in Asheville. He was eight back of second-round leader Neal Shipley at 15 under entering the day.
Koivun carded four birdies on the front nine of his third round and followed that up with another two circles and an eagle on his back. The youngest member of the 2026 U.S. Presidents Cup team went into the clubhouse T-5 at 15 under, with Shipley still playing his final three holes.
Koivun, who was playing with Ben Silverman and Gordon Sargent on Saturday, got off the tee a little before 8:30 a.m.
Weather forced adjusted tee times on Moving Day, coming on the heels of the tournament’s organizers choosing to play all four rounds with preferred lies due to heavy rains and high temperatures in the region.
After a bogey on his third hole Friday, Koivun went mistake free over his last 33 holes in North Carolina.
The 21-year-old Koivun first won on Tour earlier this summer in Minneapolis, where he surged past Scottie Scheffler to capture the 3M Open. The performance was one of many that drew the attention of U.S. Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker, who pegged Koivun for the 12-man team at Medinah next week.
Koivun was one of three Americans originally intending to use the inaugural tournament as a means to shake off the rust before the international competition outside of Chicago. Jacob Bridgeman is also in the field contending this weekend, while Justin Thomas withdrew late last week.
