MINNEAPOLIS — A senior tour event had been part of the Minnesota golf scene for 26 years, starting in 1993 as the Burnet Senior Classic at Bunker Hills, and becoming the 3M Championship in 2001 at the new TPC Twin Cities next door in Blaine.

Earnest fellows, those seniors, and appreciative of all the low numbers in the open spaces of this course a few blocks away from the National Sports Center.

Trouble was, once you’ve been overserved and freely screamed insults at Europeans with 40,000 friends for three days at a Ryder Cup (Hazeltine, 2016), a senior event wasn’t going to quench Minnesota’s golf thirst.

A considerably larger financial commitment from 3M allowed Pro Links boss Hollis Cavner to land a spot on the PGA Tour. The first 3M Open was held on Fourth of July weekend in 2019.

Brooks Koepka showed up during his brief period as the No. 1-rated player in the world, but either his swing or his heart wasn’t in it, and he wound up all alone in 65th place.

Cavner’s innovation for that first 3M Open was to promote the game’s future with early pro debuts for the best players in the college game: Collin Morikawa of Cal and Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff, both from Oklahoma State.

Wolff won the event at 21 under, with Morikawa tied for second, one back. Hovland finished tied for 13th at 15 under.

Probably a coincidence, but featuring these recent collegiate stars was such a grand idea that the tour in 2020 started PGA Tour University, a point system that ranks top college players and gives them direct access to some tour events.

Bryson DeChambeau was also part of golf’s future at the introductory 3M Open; he was 25 and a three-time winner at that point. He finished tied with Morikawa for second.

It was the following winter that DeChambeau started to turn himself into Bluto in the search for even greater distance, before switching to LIV and becoming golf’s Bozo.

Just my opinion, of course. It seems the younger, heavier drinkers in a gallery love the oaf.

Wolff encountered some self-doubt a couple of years after that fabulous professional start and also wound up with LIV. Meantime: Morikawa, two majors, and Hovland, FedEx Cup winner.

The slot for the 3M Open was changed to late July and the winners over the past six summers were Michael Thompson, Cameron Champ, Tony Finau, Lee Hodges, Jhonattan Vegas and Kurt Kitayama.

Nice to see Tony win one, stouthearted competitor he had been on the tour.

Yet, it took until this week for Cavner to land his finest exacta for the 3M Open — with golf’s present, Scottie Scheffler, fulfilling an early commitment to be here after a disappointing late Sunday in the British Open at Royal Birkdale.

And on Sunday afternoon, with the heat oppressive, Scheffler found himself chasing the future in Jackson Koivun, a slender, complete player not far removed from helping Auburn to win the 2026 national championship.

I was watching a random tournament a year ago. One of those where you watch a few minutes, switch channels, rinse and repeat.

Then, there was this skinny kid, hitting a 325-yard drive with little bend, hitting an approach dead at the flag and making a 15-foot putt.

“Who dat?” was the thought.

Jackson Koivun, maybe 150 pounds soaking weight, and enough of a player a year ago — then at age 20 — to halt the station flipping.

Koivun had the resume and the game to join the PGA Tour last summer, but he wanted to take another shot at winning another NCAA title with Auburn. He did that, while also winning six of the 10 tournaments that the War Eagles played in the 2026 regular season.

He had a stroke average of 68.20 for the year, breaking Morikawa’s NCAA record of 68.89.

This 3M was Koivun’s third start as a pro, and he had Scheffler, the player that was packing in large crowds, chasing him. When Scheffler tore up the back nine on Saturday with a 29 to get to 14 under, there was the thought he would be in prime position for a comeback victory Sunday.

And then Koivun finished off a 61 to get to 20 under.

In the steam, Scheffler had the six-shot deficit down to three at one time, but there was not a hint of nerves as Koivun headed toward a first PGA Tour victory. Three was also the margin between the pair at the end.

It was a smooth 5-under 66, a tournament record 25 under, and a post-win thought from Koivun that getting into the FedEx Cup (top 70) over the next two weeks was possible as a short-time pro.

“We’ve known Jackson for a few years,” Cavner said. “He’s played in our Valspar, in our college tournaments. Great kid, great desire, great parents. He’s easy to root for.”

Even against Scottie?

Cavner smiled.

“Biggest crowds we’ve ever had, with Scottie here,” he said. “I’m not sure the total, but we already had sold 145,000 tickets when the week started.”

There have been times when some of us media cynics have thought Hollis might exaggerate attendance, but I must say this:

This was the most people I’ve noted attending a Minnesota golf tournament since the boozed-up patriots were careening about Hazeltine 11 years ago.

Thanks, Scottie. And don’t look back because this Koivun kid already passed you — for one weekend, at least.

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