Expectations are a peculiar thing. We all have them, for a wide variety of things and a wide variety of reasons – some of those reasonable, others perhaps less so. And whilst there are times when those expectations are actually met, more often than not, they aren’t. It’s just the way life tends to work, unfortunately.
And never is that more true than when it comes to the world of sport.
Whether it’s soccer. Whether it’s rugby. Basketball. Boxing. Tennis. It doesn’t matter. Because what I’m trying to get at, is that if you took thirty seconds right now and tried to think of a time when a sporting event you had high expectations for either ended up being a boring blowout or an uneventful damp squib that you immediately banished from your memory, there’s not a doubt in my mind that you could think of, at least, one.
On the contrary, of course, there’s also the inverse of that. If we think about it from a golfing perspective, Tiger Woods coming back and winning the Masters in 2019? Expectations met. Rory finally conquering Augusta and claiming the Career Grand Slam? Again, expectations met.
But if we look at the Farmers Insurance Open this week and the much-publicised return of Brooks Koepka, it’s hard to figure out what exactly we’re supposed to expect. Because in situations like these, the expectations we have are, ultimately, based on how we’re made to feel. And if we’re to take our cues as to what those feelings should possibly be from the PGA Tour, the crux of it is that this is a big, bloody deal. I mean, this is billed as the second coming of, in their words, a “generational” player. The return of a prodigal son to the home that made him who he was, and a middle finger to those who tempted him away in the first place.
But let’s not forget that golf is hard. Brooks Koepka last played competitive golf at the end of August last year, competing with his former teammates on Smash GC at the season-ending LIV Golf Team Championship in Michigan.
That was 157 days ago.
So, were this in any way a normal situation, if you had a player returning to competitive golf after a five-month layoff and doing so at a course as difficult as Torrey Pines, they would, of course, be more than entitled to some grace. They look a bit rusty? No problem. They miss the cut? Don’t worry about it.
But this isn’t a normal situation.
Because this is more than just a return. By coming back to the PGA Tour from LIV, the signing of Brooks Koepka is the Tour’s first real “hit” they’ve managed to land on the Saudi-backed outfit since they emerged in 2021. Hell, Brooks hasn’t even hit a single shot yet, and the PGA Tour has already slotted him into a commercial for the upcoming season where the tagline is, “Where the best belong.” And the reason they’ve done that is because they are viewing this as a seminal moment in the long-running battle with LIV. Koepka is the spoils in a culture war between the old guard and the braggadocious upstart, and we’ve been fed the narrative that his return is a huge deal because he’s a five-time Major champion.
Therefore, the expectation is that he has to perform, right? I mean, the Hollywood ending would be that he’d win this week or, at the very least, be in the mix to win come Sunday. But what if Brooks doesn’t do that? What if he struggles? What if he misses the cut? What if he doesn’t look like the generational player we’ve been told that he is?
I can already imagine the discourse online should that happen; the memes already sitting preemptively in people’s drafts so that they can be the first to scream, “SEEMS LIV WERE RIGHT TO LET BROOKS GO AFTER ALL!” Truly, in a lot of ways, it’s an unenviable position for Koepka to be in. And while he’d never be the kind of person to show it, the prospect of what’s to come this week must surely be a little nerve-wracking for Brooks. Because whilst there is, indeed, a long season ahead, one filled with plenty of opportunities to find his very best, you only get one chance to make a first impression – or, in this case, a second.
And, for Brooks’ sake, I hope he performs well. I really do.
But in an age where opinions are formed not only quickly but viscerally, and where scoring points off one another has never been more important, one can’t help but wonder what the judgement might be should Brooks end up brought before the court of unmet expectations.
