Khalil Mack 'couldn't give up on that dream' of winning with the Chargers
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Khalil Mack mulled retirement early in the offseason. It didn't take long for him to decide to return to the Los Angeles Chargers.
He agreed on a contract extension in March, never becoming an unrestricted free agent.
'Got tremendous leadership here, very familiar with guys already here,' he said Wednesday at minicamp. 'It was a no-brainer.'
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But recent years have come to present a man embarking happily into the throes of first-time fatherhood while seemingly entering a career twilight coming maybe a little faster than it should. The injuries had taken their toll. The move to LIV Golf was well-timed. Koepka seemed to be on a playing trajectory more closely resembling Dustin Johnson than Rory McIlroy, despite Koepka, 35, being a year younger than McIlroy. Three weeks ago at Quail Hollow, standing in the 18th fairway, Koepka looked over to the ropeline, getting the attention of the family nanny. With his 2-year-old son, Crew, in the stroller, he motioned directions for them to walk around the 18th green and meet him near the exit. Koepka then hit his approach to the green, walked up the fairway in a low Friday afternoon light, and wrapped up his second round. As he had for the better part of two days in Charlotte, the 35-year-old looked mostly unfazed by a T124 finish and only 13 greens hit in regulation. Heading out that day, Koepka was asked by a reporter to stop and chat about the state of his game, but replied only, 'I'm good, brother,' never breaking stride on the way to the parking lot. It was hard not to see a different guy than the one who once won four of eight majors between 2017 and 2019. It was hard not to hear a different guy than the one who said at Bethpage that only a few players were capable of beating him. So, yes, it was hard to imagine Koepka seriously competing at the 2025 U.S. Open. But what happened here on Thursday was no figment of the imagination. There was Koepka, grinding his way across Oakmont, looking like one of the toughest players of the last quarter-century doing his thing on one of the toughest courses ever created. An eagle on No. 4. Back-to-back closing birdies to erase a pair of bogeys early on the back nine. A 2-under 68. One of 10 players in the 156-man field to finish under par. A tie for third, two shots off a lead held by J.J. Spaun. 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'I just had no sense of reality of where things were,' Koepka said. 'My perception was so far off.' As these things go, Koepka's game was broken, and it, in turn, broke him. 'You didn't want to be around me,' he went on. 'It drove me nuts. It ate at me. I haven't been happy. It's been very irritating.' Things came to a head Monday at Oakmont. Koepka was in the middle of a practice round when Pete Cowan, his longtime coach, finally cut through the noise and said some things that needed to be said. According to Koepka, the two spent 45 minutes together in a bunker. Cowan spoke. Koepka listened. 'I just sat there, and he scolded me pretty well,' he said. Among the issues at hand is Koepka executing the swing feels that he is working toward versus perceptions he has in his mind of how he's swung in the past. Koepka has long sought versions of his swing. He pointed out that if you watch the film of his swing Thursday, it should closely resemble his swing from roughly 2013-14, back when his career began taking off. No one can pretend to know where Koepka has been in this search, but Thursday's comments amounted to an all-time great player explaining that he needed to find his swing to find himself. Some kind of odyssey, one that not only wore on him, but wore on those around him. Koepka said he reached the point of having to apologize to those around him, both his family and his team. None of that was seen in the player on the course Thursday. Really, you'd never have known. It just looked like Brooks Koepka.
