Remember me
Such is the secrecy around professional sport, it's often rare that we have any idea what an athlete is going through during competitive play.
Injuries, or something more serious, can affect performance, as proven by Mark Hubbard, who is competing at the Travelers Championship.
Shooting a two-over-par tournament total, Hubbard's brother, Nathan, revealed on Saturday that the American was suffering with a heart disease that first came into effect at The Memorial Tournament three weeks ago.
In a lengthy thread on X/Twitter, Nathan wrote: "A thread on why my brother’s situation - playing with @JordanSpieth tomorrow despite dealing with a significant heart condition - is an example of why the @PGATOUR absolutely did the right thing this week."
He went on to add: "The cut and the meritocracy are the two most important and defining characteristics of golf as a sport, and here’s a current example of why the @PGATOUR’s decision to support both of those things as the underpinning of the future of golf is so important to the sport.
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"My brother @HomelessHubbs earned enough points to qualify for the Travelers Championship elevated event this week. He was fortunate; a couple guys fumbled the bag at the Canadian Open on the 18th hole to allow him to sneak in.
"He wasn’t able to play that event though, because the week before, in the middle of The Memorial (Jack’s tournament), he started having chest pains.
"He’d had a flu like virus for a few days. He’d felt winded and his heart was racing. After his Friday round the tour doctors sent him to the ER and thank God for that…
"He was in the middle of a cardio myopathy. He was hospitalized in Columbus for four days. Withdrew from US Open qualifying (where he’d been a medalist in the past two years). Tried to play Canada but no doctor would approve it and he couldn’t really swing so he had to WD.
"So after two weeks of rest, by some stroke of luck or the golf gods smiling, he got in this week. Now, why would he come out and play? He’s not remotely full strength. He’s wearing a device that captures data so docs can analyze it and determine next steps. Why is he playing?
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"He currently sits 98th in FedEx cup points. There are six more events left in the season. The top 100 guys keep their card, and the top 70 guys automatically get into all the big events next year. He’s right on the bubble.
"He has no contract, no salary. His wife and daughters basically only eat if he plays well, makes the cut (and therefore makes money). There’s not a doctor on the planet who would tell him to play this week. But, this tournament has no cut. So he will earn a few points no matter what happens this week.
"He is playing at about 50% of his actual capacity as an athlete to try to keep his job and, at the end of the season, the difference between the guy who finishes 100 and 101 is sometimes a single point - he will earn more than that for last place this week. Every single shot, every single point matters to his family.
"Some - including some golfers on tour - think this is unfair. He’s had an abnormally long career, and he’s a top 10 earner of all time on tour without a win. He will forever hold the record for most events played in a single season. The definition of an all-time grinder.
"What makes golf and - by virtue of the direction the @PGATOUR took this week - the tour great, is that it is the only sport in the world where everything is because of you. It’s all your glory, and all your fault. No teammates, no opponents on the other side.
"Players deal w/this intense psychological pressure in different ways. Scottie subjugates golf to his faith and family so he doesn’t care too much. Tiger seems to have punished his body to the point of compartmentalizing using substances to numb the pain. Golfers run the gamut.
"But only in golf is it you vs the game. Highly skilled guys cannot become pros because they cannot handle the mental side of it. You must take complete ownership of your failures, and most humans simply can’t do that. That’s the beauty of the sport.
Hubbard during the final round of the Travelers Championship
(Image credit: Getty Images)
"So the cut, and the meritocracy, are EVERYTHING in determining who is great at golf. Without them, it’s a game, not a sport.
"And look - if my brother was putting his life completely at risk he wouldn’t play, and he could enter the (really challenging) program for players with major medical issues.
"But this is the only sport where a player with his condition would even be out there this week. And tomorrow he tees off with @JordanSpieth early in the morning, just trying to survive and get a few more points.
"He earned it. That’s entertainment! It freaking matters so much.
"Golfers aren’t tough guys physically, but the best ones are as tough or tougher mentally than any other athlete. It’s why so many of them are so damn weird (sorry but true).
"ALL of it is due to the fact that you only eat what you kill. It creates a cascading set of decisions and consequences big and small, one of which is @HomelessHubbs this week.
"He’s only out there because there’s no cut! So: Long live the cut, and long live the meritocracy."
Hubbard produced a runner-up finish at the Myrtle Beach Classic, his best finish on the PGA Tour
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Earning a season-best result of second at the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, Hubbard has seven missed cuts in 2026, with the 37-year-old's only other top 25 coming at the Cognizant Classic.
As of writing, his rounds of 69, 71, 72 and 70 means he sits solo 70th at the Travelers Championship, with Hubbard predicted to drop from 98th in the FedEx Cup standings to 99th.
Just a handful of tournaments remain before the FedEx Cup Playoffs in August, meaning Hubbard needs a strong run of results to move inside the top 70, as well as stay inside the top 100.
Following the Tour Championship, which takes place on August 27-30th, there are eight Fall events, which could play a big part in Hubbard's PGA Tour stature, something that has seen him make 181 cuts in 277 starts and earn over $13 million in career earnings.