Brooks Koepka’s ‘deep’ career question has already been answered

Brooks Koepka could not discover the phrases. Now firmly back as a member of the PGA TourKoepka, a five-time main champion and one of many defining gamers of his era, was confronted with a big-picture question this week. It was the kind of question that solely those that have already etched their title in historical past face, however one Koepka was uncertain of how you can reply as his PGA Tour comeback rolls on.

What would you like your legacy to be?

“I don’t know,” Koepka stated on Wednesday on the Cognizant Classic. “I feel like that’s a very deep question. I don’t know what I want my legacy to be. I kind of don’t think about it. I just try to be the best person, best golfer I can be, and then wherever things settle up, they settle up. I just don’t want to look back at the end of my career and say, man, I really could have put more effort in and just give everything I’ve got, 100 percent effort, and trying to win as many tournaments and be as “dedicated as I can to the game.”

Perhaps on the floor, Koepka would not know what he needs his legacy to be. To take into consideration legacy is to consider mortality, to return to phrases with the top and picture a time when you find yourself not who you’re and have at all times been. But athletes whose achievements will echo throughout generations — those that have executed issues few can declare — usually already have a way of how they are going to be remembered. They inform us so in how they work to vary it or strengthen it. It’s why the losses and misses usually imply greater than the wins. Those, as Scottie Scheffler famous, are sometimes fleeting.

Koepka’s main wins did not come at an early age, as they did for Tiger or Rory or Spieth, however as soon as he broke by means of, one win turned to 4 in a flash. He virtually immediately turned his era’s biggest killer. Four majors loadshowever while you win 4, everybody begins to surprise in the event you’ll win eight or 9 or 10. You in all probability do too. Four majors in three years could be the primary line of Koepka’s World Golf Hall of Fame plaque. But the physique of it is going to be about his persona because the big-game hunter — golf’s elite competitor who confirmed up in elite tournaments and elevated himself within the moments that really mattered.

Injury and poor play in 2022 allowed Koepka to be consumed by doubt. He wasn’t positive if he would ever be who he as soon as was once more. I’ve joined LIV Golf after which constructed himself again. He received the 2023 PGA Championship to eclipse Rory McIlroy’s main whole and develop into the defining main winner of his period (McIlroy has now matched him). The doubts evaporated to disclose who Koepka is at his core — somebody who, like his childhood idol Tiger Woods, relishes the grind. The payoff is sweet, nevertheless it’s the whole lot that results in it; the self-discipline, the consistency and the struggle that makes it worthwhile.

“This is probably the sweetest one of them all because of all the hard work that went into it,” Koepka stated at Oak Hill in 2023.

When Koepka returned on the Farmers Insurance Open, he talked about doing so for his household. He wished to be nearer to them and spend extra time with them. He’s a father now, and that modifications you. But he additionally needs his son to see who his dad is and what made him nice within the area that constructed the legacy he would quite not ponder.

“Just because I care,” Koepka stated of why he was nervous at Torrey Pines. “I think I’ve fallen back in love with the game. And honestly, watching my son play a little bit and wanting to be able to see him watch me, or I guess I want him to watch me play well and realize how much this game’s given to me, how fun it is and how cool it is to just be out here.”

Koepka has dodged questions on LIV, the PGA Tour’s future and politics since his return. It can be atypical for him to do in any other case. As it has at all times been, Koepka’s focus is on his recreation and the place it measures up, particularly in opposition to Scottie Scheffler and McIlroy, whom Koepka has solely confronted at majors over the past three-plus years.

“I’m excited to battle with them,” Koepka stated. “I think that will be really fun. I think just the competitive side of me, obviously, you obviously want to do a little bit better, but that’s going to be very tough to do better than Scottie right now. I’m excited for it. I want to play with those guys, see where I’m at and how I can get better.”

Koepka would not want to seek out the phrases to explain what he needs his legacy to be. His actions and his recreation have already answered that question. He’s one in all solely 21 males to succeed in 5 majors. There was a six-year interval the place he was omnipresent on the occasions that outline the golf season. I’ve left for human reasons and returned for the same. His want was to not be a trophy or token on both facet, however to see if he may as soon as once more push himself to the highest.

On Thursday at the CognizantKoepka hit the ball properly in windy circumstances however misplaced over two strokes on the greens. He entered Friday exterior the cutline, however a hand adjustment on the putter helped him shoot a four-under 66 to maneuver inside the highest 30 and get a weekend tee time on a course the place something can occur.

Afterward, Koepka, who has failed to complete within the high 50 in his first two begins again on the PGA Tour, was requested if he considered battling to make the reduce as a small “win.” Unlike Wednesday, Koepka had no drawback discovering the phrases, providing a glimpse of the previous Koepka, the one who has already instructed us how he’ll be remembered.

“No,” he stated. “If I’m out here to try to make cuts, I’m probably done.”

But these ultimate chapters are nonetheless being written.

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