We are still two months away from the 2026 NFL Draft. Currently, the Minnesota Vikings hold the 18th overall pick. Kwesi Adofo-Mensah won’t be meddling in any of that business this time around, but Kevin O’Connell and Rob Brzezinski could still opt to shuffle around their capital.
Minnesota’s Safety Room Needs a Stabilizer Soon
At 18th overall, there are at least two former Oregon Ducks that should be available, and both could fit the Vikings’ needs. Harrison Smith’s status for next season remains uncertain, and the expectation has been that he will retire. T.J. Hockenson carries a cap number of more than $21 million, and he’s either a candidate for a cut or a trade.
Sep 27, 2025; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Oregon Ducks defensive back Dillon Thieneman (31) reacts after defeating the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images
Both the tight end and safety spots have draft candidates that fall within the Vikings’ range. While most mock drafts have Kenyon Sadiq being taken a bit after Minnesota, ESPN’s mock draft guru, Mel Kiper Jr., just suggested Dillon Thieneman to join the purple.
Harrison Smith is 37 years old; he might retire this offseason, and even if he returns, the safety room in Minnesota still has to be replenished. How about a Smith clone? Thieneman might not have Smith’s 6-foot-2 size (he’s 6-foot), but he reads the QB well and is savvy. That matters a lot in defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ defense, which asks a lot of rookies. Plus, Thieneman has versatility to move around the alignment, is a force against the run and had a six-INT season at Purdue back in 2023 before transferring to Oregon. He’d be a seamless fit in the Vikings’ defense.
Thieneman joined the Ducks last season after starting his collegiate career at Purdue. As a freshman, he picked off a whopping six passes. Last season with Oregon, he had two interceptions and 96 tackles for one of the best defenses in the country.
We should know whether Smith will reverse course and return sooner this offseason. He was still relatively productive last year, but at some point, his run is going to come to an end. When it does, Brian Flores has few answers on the current roster.
Kevin O’Connell greeted Harrison Smith before kickoff on Nov 27, 2023, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Vikings head coach connected with the veteran safety, wearing number 22, ahead of the NFC North matchup against the Chicago Bears as the home team prepared for the divisional contest. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports.
Theo Jackson was given an extension, but did not look good in regular action last season. Josh Metellus is best utilized in a hybrid role. That leaves Jay Ward, who could continue to develop, but remains questionable at this point for a starting role.
Thieneman would give the Vikings a Day 1 starter in the secondary, whether Smith returns or not. Coincidentally, he could be the first pick made since Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s departure. That tenure started with the disaster that was trading back and grabbing Lewis Cine.
With holes on both sides of the ball, Minnesota has to operate with a best-player-available mindset. They could just pick between the two Ducks if they really want to, though.
Ted Schwerzler is a Minneapolis based blogger that covers the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. Sharing thoughts constantly on Twitter, … More about Ted Schwerzler
This wasn’t a matchup we hadever seen before, Auburn vs Nebraska on the diamond. In fact, going to any SEC team for a weekend series isn’t something we see very often at all. But the way the NCAA Tournament Committee has been rewarding teams that have a tough non-conference schedule, it will probably become a more common sight. And with how good of a game we saw tonight, it would be a welcome one.
For the first time this season, the game had a true Friday night feeling as the teams rolled out top flight starters to begin a series. Nebraska with Ty Horn and Auburn with Virginia Tech transfer Jake Marciano, and they were dueling early on. They combined to strike out 7 batters in the first two innings.
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Auburn was the first to strike in the 3rd inning. Mason McCraine singled through the right side of the infield, and stole second base. His brother, Brandon hit a choppy grounder to Husker third baseman Josh Overbeek who was unable to come up with it. A sac fly brought 1 run home. Then Horn slipped covering a bunt, potentially another out awarded to the Tigers. a 3-2 count walk, loaded the bases for Auburn, and back to back singles made it 4-0. In the middle of all that, Horn and Worthley also got crossed up on the pitch call, despite wearing the communication devices. Just a bad half inning all around.
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The Huskers would respond in the next half inning. Case Sanderson singled to lead off. Overbeek and Dylan Carey both stuck out on 3-2 pitches, including Sandy, that was 3 batters in a row that got to a full count. DH Cole Kitchens had no interest in working a full count, driving his first pitch off the War Eagle Wall (Auburn’s version of Fenway’s Green Monster) for an RBI double. Nebraska left fielder Will Jesske hammered a ball (on a full count!) to the nearly the same spot, trading places with Kitchens and cutting the lead to 4-2.
Jesske has had a lot of pop in his bat to start the season, the only issue is he has played at some of the biggest and strangest laid out outfield fences you can find. Had Nebraska played all their games in places like Haymarket Park, Jesske could very well be leading the nation in home runs. Could that be foreshadowing?!
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Auburn added a run back in the 4th, ending Horn’s day at 3.2 innings pitched, with 4 earned runs allowed, on 5 strikeouts and 2 walks. Things went sideways quick on him, for the first time in quite a few outings, as he was clutch down the stretch for Nebraska last year and had been off to a good start to 2026.
Marciano was able to make it only through 5 himself, as the Huskers were able to work him deep into counts often, and he chased the strikeouts, all 9 of them, but allowed zero walks. Nebraska would strike out 18 times in the 10 inning game, but despite the numerous deep counts, end up with zero walks. That shows you how ready you have to be in the batters box, but also how predictable the pitches can be when they get to a count with 3 balls.
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The bullpens led by Cooper Katskee for the Huskers and Jett Johnston for the Tigers took over, tossing up zeros until Nebraska broke through in the 8th. Mac Moyer reached on an error, Case Sanderson ripped a single into center field, and Overbeek loaded the bases by taking a ball to the elbow.
The exact man Coach Will Bolt and Husker fans everywhere would want up for the situation strode to the plate, in Dylan Carey. Despite being 0-3 on the night, Carey worked it to a 3-2 count, and as stated above, got a predicable strike right over the middle of the plate and smashed the 51st double of his career to the War Eagle Wall. Two pitches later Cole Kitchens tied the game with a double into the right field corner. Overbeek scored on thr play, and Dylan Carey may have been able to score the go ahead run, but went back to tag up as the fielder seemed to get close to catching it on the fly from his perspective.
J’Shawn Unger took over on the mound in the 8th for NU, and despite a rocky inning with a walk, wild pitch, and unintentional/intentional walk, Unger was able to come up with a big strikeout to hold the tigers off the board.
After the Auburn closer struck out the side, Unger need only 7 pitches to retire the Tigers and send the game to extra innings.
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The 10th started with a bang, as Sanderson collected his team leading 3rd hit of the night, a double into the left field corner. Overbeek hit a ball to the right side to move Sandy over to third and bring up that man again, Dylan Carey. Carey continued his hot streak, hitting a single to left and claiming his 3rd RBI of the night and team leading 15th RBI on the season in only 8 games. Devin Nunez added a base hit putting runners on 1st and 2nd for Jesske. This time Jesske conquered the War Eagle Wall, blasting his 3rd home run of the season and increasing his RBI total on the day to 4, putting his team up 9-5.
Nebraska would need every single one of those runs as they have struggled at the closer position to start the season. Kevin Mannell would be passed over, as the team tried other options. Unger gave up a 1 out single. The runner advanced to 2nd without a throw, then came around to score on a single. Caleb Clark came in to face a left handed batter and surrendered a 3-2 walk. Freshman Jace Ziola replaced Clark and gave up an 0-2 RBI single. A passed ball and 4 pitch walk loaded the bases.
Nebraska then turned to Pryce Bender, who was able to induce a ground ball which Carey snagged at short despite the runner and Overbeek both flashing in front of him. A run did score on the play, cutting the Husker lead down to 9-8. The best hitter for Auburn stepped to the plate with the tying run on 3rd and winning run on 2nd. Bender was able to get him to pop up on his first pitch and secure the win for Unger and a save for himself, albeit in nail-biting fashion.
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This was the first Nebraska regular season win at an SEC field since 2014, and their 2nd win over a ranked team in a row. They did it by continually putting pressure on the Auburn pitchers, getting 6 lead off hitters on out of 10. Number of pitches is a big thing, but number of pitches under pressure is just an extra bit of stress on an arm. Nebraska is going to have to cut down on the strikeout numbers on offense if they want to win this series. They should go down a bit, as Auburn did use both of their closers and their top strikeout starter, but the rest of the staff is just as stingy on handing out walks, so get ready!
The Huskers go for the series win Saturday at 2pm CT.
WASHINGTON — Pierre-Luc Dubois had two goals and an assist to lift the Washington Capitals to a 3-2 win over the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday night.
All three of Washington’s goals came in the second period, with Jakob Chychrun adding his 22nd of the season. Braeden Bowman and Tomas Hertl scored in the third for the Golden Knights.
The Capitals pulled within two points of the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division and within two of Boston for the Eastern Conference’s second wild card. Washington is 2-0 since the Olympic break and has won six of its last seven.
The Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights had a three-game winning streak snapped despite the return of five Olympians. Vegas was without two Americans (Jack Eichel and Noah Hanifin) and three Canadians (Mark Stone, Mitch Marner and Shea Theodore) in Wednesday’s win over Los Angeles. All were back on the ice Friday.
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The Golden Knights scored five third-period goals in that 6-4 victory over the Kings and they nearly pulled off a big comeback at Washington. Bowman broke up Logan Thompson’s shutout bid early in the third, and Hertl’s power-play goal made it 3-2 with 10:45 still to play, but that was as close as Vegas could come.
Stone was called for high-sticking with 4:24 left, but Thompson still had to come up big on short-handed chances by Brayden McNabb and Marner.
Dubois beat Akira Schmid high to the blocker side 49 seconds into the second to open the scoring. Just over 2 1/2 minutes later, Aliaksei Protas found Dubois in front with a nice pass for a 2-0 lead.
Chychrun’s shot from the right circle sneaked under the crossbar to make it 3-0.
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The line of Dubois, Protas and Tom Wilson was on the ice for all three of Washington’s goals, along with defenseman Rasmus Sandin. Protas and Sandin had two assists each.
Dubois had no points in his first six games this season and had surgery for injuries to his abdominal and adductor muscles. He has three goals and two assists in three games since returning.
He looks set to return to action in the summer, and has been linked to a showdown against fellow unbeaten fighter Keyshawn Davis.
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Multi-weight champion Jones thinks Haney would be wise to indeed take that bout next, explaining to All The Smoke Fight that the longer ‘The Dream’ waits, the better Davis will get.
“If Keyshawn comes up or if they even do a catch weight of 143 144, it’s going to be a very interesting fight because I think Devin has more tools and more IQ right now. But Keyshawn is different.
“So, you got to have that intangible about him where he can be a different guy when it’s time to be a different guy. You can never count him out. How if I was pushing Keyshawn, I would have another fight or two before I fight Devin just for experience purposes.
“And if I was Devin, I would try to jump on it right now before he gets those couple fights because the more experience he gets, the harder he going to become to beat.”
Davis won the WBO lightweight title last year but recently stepped up to 140lbs – after failing to make weight in what was would have been his first defence at 135 – to claim a stoppage victory over Jamaine Ortiz in January.
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He called out Haney immediately after the win, seemingly happy to move straight to welterweight for the challenge, though has since also floated the idea of facing Lamont Roach Jr.
Namestnikov was injured after he was tripped, causing him to collide with teammate Adam Lowry late in the second period. The 33-year-old was able to skate off on his own power, but went straight to the locker room for further evaluation.
Namestnikov, in his 13th NHL season and fourth in Winnipeg, has seven goals and 13 points in 56 games for the Jets this season.
He was selected 27th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 2011 NHL Draft.
When the mystery figure was eventually unmasked, you likely would have expected somebody like Grayson Waller, but when Logan Paul finally did it, the result was rather unexpected.
For some context, the mystery masked figure has been tormenting The Vision for a little while now, hitting the stomp and attacking various members. It was teased as being Seth Rollins, but even those in WWE openly admitted that it doesn’t make sense, as Rollins is still a while away from his actual return from injury. With two more members of The Vision injured, it has led to a bit of a crisis. Regardless, Logan Paul managed to sneak his way into the main event, where he faced Jacob Fatu to replace Jey Uso in the Elimination Chamber match.
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Thanks for the submission!
Right towards the end of the match, the masked figure attacked Austin Theory, but Paul intercepted him and knocked him out. When he removed the mask, it was a plant – an unknown name and face with no connection to anybody. There was confusion all around, as many expected it to be someone like Grayson Waller. Instead, WWE threw a wrench and added a twist by putting an unknown figure in the mask.
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In all likelihood, this means that the masked figure is still at large and that this was simply a plant meant to throw the members of The Vision off. Logan Paul would also end up qualifying for the Elimination Chamber match when he beat Jacob Fatu courtesy of a Drew McIntyre assist.
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This September, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will revisit their rivalry in one of the standout events of the 2026 boxing calendar. Ahead of the rematch, former WBO lightweight champion Keyshawn Davis has offered his thoughts.
In an interview with FightHype, Davis spoke with excitement ahead of the battle, but admitted that he gives Floyd Mayweather the edge, due to the fact that he already holds a win over ‘Pac Man’.
“It’s a legendary fight.
I feel like it’s going to be a different fight, they are at two different ages, they are well past their [initial] retirements. They were both retired for a long time and I think that it’s going to be a different fight, so the fans are definitely going to be tuning in.
“Floyd [has the advantage], for sure, he already won the first time. You are only as good as your last performance [against each other], [in the] last performance, Floyd won.
“Both of their reflexes and timing still ain’t there but, I’m going to say this though, Pacquiao’s last performance was crazy, against a younger fighter too. Floyd has also been doing lots of exhibitions, so they have both been kind of active, but I can only judge off their last fight.”
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Before rematching Pacquiao, Mayweather first takes on heavyweight icon Mike Tyson in an exhibition bout which is reported to be in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, April 25.
Trent Alexander-Arnold had always looked irreplaceable. The remarkable passing range and pinpoint crossing that made him unique meant no successor would ever be a duplicate. But if Jeremie Frimpong has proved Anfield’s answer to the Real Madrid Alexander-Arnold, it has been in an unwanted respect. Frimpong’s injury-interrupted time at Liverpool mirrors Alexander-Arnold’s stop-start beginning to life at the Bernabeu.
The Netherlands international is poised to return against West Ham on Saturday. A man who barely missed a game for Bayer Leverkusen has had three hamstring injuries in England. Proof the physicality of the league can be tough to adjust to, Arne Slot has often said.
And for the first time in a month, Liverpool will be able to call upon a right-back who actually is a right-back; apart, anyway, from Calvin Ramsay, granted one start in the Carabao Cup, one minute in the FA Cup and neither in the Premier League.
Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool’s player of the season, has been dragged into right back from midfield far more often than Arne Slot would have liked (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
This has been the season of seven right-backs for Liverpool and, of the seven, Ramsay has played least. It could have been eight, had they got their way at the end of the winter window, when they tried to sign Lutsharel Geertruida on loan. The Dutchman has something in common with Alexander-Arnold having each played right-back for Slot in a title-winning campaign; one for Feyenoord, the other for Liverpool.
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Of the Liverpool septet – at times, more makeshift than magnificent seven – one is a centre-back by trade, in Joe Gomez, and three are midfielders, in Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai. It has felt Liverpool’s cursed position: Conor Bradley missed the start of the season and will miss the rest of it, after undergoing knee surgery. Endo will sit out much of the rest of it with a foot problem which he incurred playing right-back; and probably only doing so because Szoboszlai was suspended following a sending off operating there. Gomez’s appearances have been rationed for fear he would get injured again. He, too, has had three spells on the sidelines this season.
There is a case – though the evidence is limited by his bit-part role – that Gomez is Liverpool’s best defensive right-back; they have three clean sheets in the six games he has started there. Frimpong may be the best attacking one: indeed, he was initially not trusted to operate in the back four by Slot, who sometimes instead selected him as a winger, but he brought dynamism around the turn of the year.
Bradley may be the best all-round right-back. Szoboszlai, indisputably, is the best all-round footballer, with his issues perhaps occurring due to an unfamiliarity with the position. The other problem is that he can be a first-choice in multiple positions at the same time: Slot started to turn the tide after Liverpool’s awful start at Nottingham Forest on Sunday by moving Szoboszlai into midfield and swapping Jones to right-back.
It probably wasn’t a scenario Slot envisaged last summer. Replacing Alexander-Arnold has come with more difficulties than expected. “Only because of the reason you said,” replied Slot, referencing injuries. He is happy with the two specialists, the homegrown and the purchased.
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Jeremie Frimpong could return from injury to face West Ham at Anfield (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“We believe, I truly believe, in these two as quality players,” he added. “They are young and need time to develop. Jeremie is a bit older but comes from a different league so he always needed time to adapt. Conor is a young player who only played 30 games in the Premier League before the start of this season but we all saw his potential and still see his potential so if both of them would have been fit, I think we would have had and still have two great replacements for Trent.”
At Anfield, Alexander-Arnold was one of the world’s best, in his inimitable way. Slot feels the Northern Irishman and the Dutchman have the ability to be in that bracket.
“Trent ended at a level at this club – he probably didn’t start at that level – that is so high, they are not easy shoes to fill,” Slot continued. “But we believe and I still believe in the fact that these two can grow to a similar level; different qualities but to a similar level that Trent was when he left. the biggest thing is that both of them haven’t been available and that has been the biggest struggle to replace Trent.”
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The struggle, in part, has been the constant instability, or the fact it keeps taking Szoboszlai out of the midfield. Liverpool lack a regular right-back but they have had some outstanding displays there: most recently Jones against Brighton in the FA Cup, perhaps most memorably Bradley’s annual tour de force against Real Madrid.
Szoboszlai was superb away at Newcastle, at home to Arsenal and, despite his eventual dismissal, against Manchester City. He may be more relieved than most to see Frimpong fit again. In November, Slot said he didn’t expect that in February or March Szoboszlai would play every game as a winger or a full-back. On the last day of the month, Liverpool finally have a right-back available again. For now, anyway.
The projected top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, said a team executive suggested he get arrested so that he would slide down to that team’s pick in the upcoming draft.
Mendoza is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders, but he is still interviewing with other teams at the NFL combine.
Mendoza revealed the suggestion a team made to him about getting arrested during an interview with CBS Sports on Friday, when he was asked about the most bizarre question he got from teams at the NFL combine.
Indiana Hoosiers quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza (15) and Alberto Mendoza (16) warm up prior to the game against the UCLA Bruins at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 25, 2025, in Bloomington, Indiana.(Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
“It was, ‘hey, maybe you should get arrested,’ and I was a little confused, but then I was like, the slide … so you could slide in the draft,” he said.
Mendoza declined to reveal which team made the suggestion.
Indiana Hoosiers quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza (15) and Alberto Mendoza (16) walk on the field for warmups before the 2025 Big Ten Conference Championship game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Lucas Oil Stadium on Dec. 6, 2025, in Indianapolis.(Aaron Doster-Imagn Images)
“So, hopefully I don’t get arrested,” he added.
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Mendoza is the hottest quarterback prospect this year after leading Indiana to the first 16-0 season in modern college football history, winning the national championship and the Heisman Trophy.
He finished the 2025 season with 3,535 passing yards, 41 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza passes against Miami during the first half of the College Football Playoff national championship game, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026, in Miami Gardens, Florida.(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Other teams in need of a quarterback besides the Raiders may not find many answers in this draft, after Oregon quarterback Dante Moore returned to college for another year.
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Other prospects, including Ty Simpson, Drew Allar and Garrett Nussmeier, are projected to be lower-tier prospects when compared to Mendoza.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.
Miami (Ohio) advanced to 29-0 in dramatic fashion on Friday night, as Trey Perry lifted the RedHawks to a 69-67 win at Western Michigan with a game-winning layup in the final second. The win brings Miami within two victories of completing a perfect regular season.
It took everything the RedHawks could muster amid adverse circumstances on the road to avoid what would have been a potentially devastating Quad 4 loss. Miami didn’t earn its first lead of the second half until the 1:45 mark as it navigated life without two stars. Leading scorer Peter Suder fouled out with 7:03 remaining and the RedHawks down 57-50. He had 18 points on 7 of 13 shooting, and his departure after just 27 minutes of playing time left the RedHawks in a bind.
The Redhawks also played without starting point guard Luke Skaljac due to injury. But when the pressure was on, Miami demonstrated the clutch gene that has been part of its DNA all season. Perry finished with 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting. Almar Atlason added 16 points, including 12 in the second half. His 4-point play with 3:26 remaining sliced a 5-point deficit to just one.
Miami entered as an 11.5-point favorite but struggled from the jump as Western Michigan built a 6-point lead in the opening minutes. WMU closed the first half on a 7-0 run as Miami coach Travis Steele began to take exception with the officiating.
He ultimately received a technical foul and went to the locker in a fit of rage. Western Michigan then built a 9-point lead before Miami figured out a way to claw back and keep its storybook start alive. The RedHawks close the regular season next week against Toledo and Ohio as they seek to become the first team since Gonzaga in 2021 to finish the regular season unbeaten.
Brooks Koepka couldn’t find the words. Now firmly back as a member of the PGA Tour, Koepka, a five-time major champion and one of the defining players of his generation, was confronted with a big-picture question this week. It was the type of question that only those who have already etched their name in history face, but one Koepka was unsure of how to answer as his PGA Tour comeback rolls on.
What do you want your legacy to be?
“I don’t know,” Koepka said on Wednesday at 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 surface, Koepka doesn’t know what he wants his legacy to be. To think about legacy is to think about mortality, to come to terms with the end and imagine a time when you are not who you are and have always been. But athletes whose achievements will echo across generations — those who have done things few can claim — often already have a sense of how they will be remembered. They tell us so in how they work to change it or strengthen it. It’s why the losses and misses often mean more than the wins. Those, as Scottie Scheffler noted, are often fleeting.
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Koepka’s major wins didn’t come at an early age, as they did for Tiger or Rory or Spieth, but once he broke through, one win turned to four in a flash. He almost instantly became his generation’s great major killer. Four majors is a lot, but when you win four, everyone starts to wonder if you’ll win eight or nine or 10. You probably do too. Four majors in three years might be the first line of Koepka’s World Golf Hall of Fame plaque. But the body of it will be about his persona as the big-game hunter — golf’s elite competitor who showed up in elite tournaments and elevated himself in the moments that truly mattered.
Injury and poor play in 2022 allowed Koepka to be consumed by doubt. He wasn’t sure if he would ever be who he once was again. He joined LIV Golf and then built himself back. He won the 2023 PGA Championship to eclipse Rory McIlroy’s major total and become the defining major winner of his era (McIlroy has now matched him). The doubts evaporated to reveal who Koepka is at his core — someone who, like his childhood idol Tiger Woods, relishes the grind. The payoff is nice, but it’s everything that leads to it; the discipline, the consistency and the fight that makes it worthwhile.
“This is probably the sweetest one of them all because of all the hard work that went into it,” Koepka said at Oak Hill in 2023.
When Koepka returned at the Farmers Insurance Open, he talked about doing so for his family. He wanted to be closer to them and spend more time with them. He’s a father now, and that changes you. But he also wants his son to see who his dad is and what made him great in the arena that built the legacy he would rather not contemplate.
“Just because I care,” Koepka said 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 want him to watch me play well and realize how much this game’s given me, how fun it is and how cool it is to just be out here.”
Koepka has dodged questions about LIV, the PGA Tour’s future and politics since his return. It would be atypical for him to do otherwise. As it has always been, Koepka’s focus is on his game and where it measures up, especially against Scottie Scheffler and McIlroy, whom Koepka has only faced at majors over the last three-plus years.
“I’m excited to battle with them,” Koepka said. “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.”
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Koepka doesn’t need to find the words to describe what he wants his legacy to be. His actions and his game have already answered that question. He’s one of only 21 men to reach five majors. There was a six-year period where he was omnipresent at the events that define the golf season. He left for human reasons and returned for the same. His desire was not to be a trophy or token on either side, but to see if he could once again push himself to the top.
On Thursday at the Cognizant, Koepka hit the ball well in windy conditions but lost over two strokes on the greens. He entered Friday outside the cutline, but a hand adjustment on the putter helped him shoot a four-under 66 to move inside the top 30 and get a weekend tee time on a course where anything can happen.
Afterward, Koepka, who has failed to finish in the top 50 in his first two starts back on the PGA Tour, was asked if he viewed battling to make the cut as a small “win.” Unlike Wednesday, Koepka had no problem finding the words, offering a glimpse of the old Koepka, the one who has already told us how he’ll be remembered.
“No,” he said. “If I’m out here to try to make cuts, I’m probably done.”
;)
