Fairway Rollin' - The Trials of a U.S. Open Debut With Mark Hubbard

Episode Date: September 16, 2020

House and Nathan talk to pro golfer Mark Hubbard about making his U.S. Open debut at Winged Foot. They talk about Mark's first impressions of the course and the difficulties he expects on the back nine (01:25). They also discuss competitive drive, as well as finding personal success regardless of the outcome of the competition (26:10). Hosts: Joe House and Nathan Hubbard Guest: Mark Hubbard Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, friends, and welcome to this golf podcast, unlike any other. We've done it. We are back. It is a major week. It's U.S. Open week here at Faraway Rowling the Golf Podcast on the Ringer Podcast Network. I am your starter. Joe House. This is the final show of the week leading into this beautiful.

beautiful U.S. Open we have at Wingfoot. We had to do something extra special. We have an extra special guest today. Mark Hubbard, who is playing his very first U.S. Open in his entire life and at a venue that he's never seen before until he set foot on grounds yesterday. Mr. Hubbard is on to help us prepare ourselves for all that we are going to see. Of course, our PGA tour correspondent on the ground, Nathan Hubbard, is here with us. The first tee is open. Let's go over, throw a peg in the ground. We've got Mark Hubbard, Nathan Hubbard, Joe House.

Let's tee it up. All right, my par saving, pals, we do not have many rules here at the Fairway Rollin podcast. But one we do have is anytime the brother of a co-host of the show is about to play his first U.S. Open, and it's at one of the most iconic venues in the United States and honestly the world, then he has to come on this show and talk about it. Mark Hubbard, what's happening, my brother? That's it going. Thanks for having me, man.

Thanks for coming on today. So I want to kick off with something that I was like kind of surprised by when I heard about it from Nate, when we started doing the research and preparing. So this is the Tuesday of U.S. Open Week at Wingfoot. And I believe it is the case that the very first time you laid eyes on Wingfoot was yesterday. Is that true? That is true. Yeah.

I played the back night yesterday. So I still haven't seen the front. But first time on property, which is actually surprising to me, I've spent a lot of time, New York, grown up and just has ever gotten on here. Yeah. So give us your impression, your reaction, like the driving up the driveway kind of vibe. Well, we didn't have that. Thanks to COVID and all the checkpoints. We actually had to, like, come in a specific back way to our park a lot.

So we didn't have that. But definitely the, just, you know, walking on site into the clubhouse and everything. thing. You can tell even without the fans, you can tell it's a major, you can tell it's a historic place. How does it feel different than a normal tournament? And how does it compare to what you felt at the PGA, which was actually the first major you ever played, right? Yeah, I mean, you can just tell everything's bigger. There's just kind of this aura about it. I think the PGA, you know, that Harding Park hadn't hosted a bunch of stuff, but just the amount of people on site and stuff roped off. And I mean, there's tons of grandstands, even though there's not going to be fans. There's just buildings

everywhere. The clubhouse is just kind of majestic. The amount of just like the food is amazing. Just like all the perks are just bigger and grander and everything's just like manicured to the nines. Like every piece of grass looks like someone's been out there with like handheld scissors like clipping it off. Like everything is just perfect. It's definitely, I think it's just a level of detail that you don't see at a normal, normal venue. And then I mean, just knowing the history and, you know, there's plaques everywhere and old trophies from previous US AMs and U.S. opens everywhere on display. And you can just tell it's, there's been a lot of great, great things at the course. You mentioned the food. I cannot let us go by without getting

a little bit. It's breakfast time and house just got hungry. It's like, wait a minute. Yeah, so I have been fortunate enough to get an invite up there and I play there one time. What did you eat yesterday. Because I absolutely concur with the assessment of the food. It's kind of amazing. What did you have yesterday? I had the second best lobster roll I've ever had

in my life. The first was in Boston this year. Oh, just this year? Yeah. Okay. And TPC Boston? No, no. Joel Damon's wife, Lana, found this hole in the wall place. She's amazing at that. Like, literally

like a little drive-up stand. And it was it was incredible. I could have eaten five. I would have eaten myself to death. But how does it compare, how does it compare to some of the famous food on the rest of the tour? Like, what are the key stops along the way? In Palm Springs at PGA West, there's the, what is this? The maple fried bacon? It's like maple, but then it's got like some jalapeno on it, but yeah, it's ridiculous. And in Phoenix, what do we, it's just, all the TPCs, there's a great juice bars. Just beer. Beer is food, by the way.

Just to be clear. Yeah, and then you got Memorial. You got the famous milkshakes at Jack's Place. But Wingfoot is up there with the best. Yeah, I mean, I think just the USGA is putting on a great event. I know people go back and forth with them and certain things, but they definitely know how to treat the players and make them feel like, hey, you really earn this.

This is big time. Well, if I may make a recommendation, you have an opportunity this week, get the Cobb salad. Okay. I know that's not like at the top of a list you would think about it. No, that's actually more of what I need. I could use some salads in my life. So thank you for that. So you got to play yesterday.

The early reports so far have been mainly focused on the rough. How was it? Yeah, the rough is pretty brutal, especially around the greens. I think they do a good job, though, on the longer, tougher holes, they kind of graduate it. So this is something that I historically dislike very strongly about a lot of the courses we play, is that if you miss the fairway by one foot and you're barely in the rough, like, it's the worst rough possible. So it kind of gives advantage to the guys who are just a slinging driver trying to hit as far as they can, and missing it 30 yards offline.

versus a guy like me who I'm going to miss only two, three, four fairways, but it's going to be very close and then I'm penalized more. So they're doing a good job of that where if you barely miss it, you still have a chance. And then on the shorter holes where you absolutely should hit the fairway, if you miss the fairway, you can hardly get an eight iron out. So they're doing a really good job of that. Around the greens, it's brutal. Greens right now are still really receptive, which I don't know,

there's so much slope that I think if they get firmer, they're going to have a tough time finding a lot of fair pin placements. So that's going to be something to watch as the week goes on. But, yeah, the course is in ridiculous shape. And it's how it should be. If you hit good shots, you can make birdies. And if you don't, you're absolutely going to be penalized every time. It's going to expose all of your weaknesses.

Does it advantage any kind of player? I mean, yesterday we heard, okay, the rough's crazy. So it's about guys who can be accurate off the tee. But, oh, the greens are so graduated that. It's really a second shot golf course because you've got to get yourself below the hole. Otherwise, you're going to put it 30 feet off the green. Or is it just like whoever plays the fucking best this week is going to win? Are we overthinking it?

No, I mean, I think it really is. I think that's why it's a great championship golf course. I think it really is the latter of those. I think whoever plays the best, that's what we are supposed to is going to win. I think one thing we were talking about me and Max yesterday that we really like about it is that a lot of the courses we play out here, if you can fly at 300 yards, it almost makes the fairway wider. If you can get past some of the bunkering and stuff like that,

the fairway is a lot wider at 310 than it is at 285. So not only are those guys having shorter clubs, but they actually have a bigger target. Out here, it's not like that at all. The fairways are the exact same width the entire way up. So there's really no advantage to bombing driver or trying to carry bunkers and stuff like that. You're still taking on the same amount of risk.

So I think that's going to make it really fair. Take us through the closing holes, right? Always at a U.S. Open, the drama comes down the stretch. You played the back. Take us through sort of 16, 17, 18. Or what are those holes on the back that are going to be those signature holes that deliver those signature moments? Given we played it a little bit downwind,

but I hit driver pitching wedge to a foot on 18 and made birdie. So I don't know what all the hoopla is about. I don't know how Phil had two iron. and it must have bounced, hit that grandstands, and bounce back 60 yards. Well, that's why they built the grandstands. I was going to say,

they probably just built them so Phil has a target this week. Yeah, no, I mean, yeah, 16, 17, 18, they're all great. Really, the whole back is just, it's fun. I think one of the sneaky hardest holes on that side is the lone part five,

which you're thinking, oh, it should be a scorable opportunity. But, man, it's brutal. If you're not, you know, within five feet of where you need to be looking, you're going to have trouble, you're going to have trouble to make a bar. So I think that was good.

16 and 18, both dog lakes left. You really got to hit it in the fair way to have any chance of hitting the green. And the greens are just brutally sloped. That 18th hole, it's almost like all the greens are sloped, but that one is 3x of what any green is. So you can see how, I mean, if you miss that green, good luck getting it within 10 feet.

Strategy. The shot that Oval will be hit from down there, we, I mean, TV does not do it justice how much slope there is at the front of that green. I mean, you are 30 feet below the top of that shelf. It's insane. And the shot that he hit, like everybody else is probably, you know, bumping a nine iron into the slope or something. And he almost spun it back from like 30 yards. It was ridiculous.

One of the things that we saw in some of the research for the week took note of is, you know, the Bill Hans' restoration. and one of the things that they made I'm sure to include in that was extending the false front on 18. How pronounced was that? Did you take note of it? Could you tell? Yeah, I mean, it's insane. It's the biggest false front I've ever seen. That's still green.

I mean, you've seen some that'll come down. And a lot of holes have that where if you, you know, miss it a yard short, you actually are going to miss it 20 yards short. But, yeah, 18s are a different beast. Yeah, they said, like, the design concept from Tillinghouse was for 18 on both the West Course and the East course. They want to deliver the feeling. His goal was to deliver the feeling of walking up like stairs to the clubhouse. Did you get that vibe? Now that I'm thinking about it, I probably would.

But no, not because you kind of walk down in order to walk up. Right, right. But, I mean, I can see what he was going for for, for sure. You mentioned the dog legs. I think that the par fours there, 11 of the 14 have pretty pronounced angles to them. For a venue like this, where I don't think that's common on tour,

what does that do to your strategizing? You're thinking about how you're going to get around. I mean, for me, I like it. I think it gives me an advantage because I'm good at shaping shots. I like shaping it both ways. I don't really have one specific shot. So guys that only play a draw or only play a fade, you know, there's going to be some holes that really don't fit their eye.

But I actually vastly prefer dog legs. I don't like straight holes because I like shaping it. Straight holes trip me out. I don't know where to aim. So that'll help. You have to aim straight on straight holes. Dumb fucker. But yeah, I think that means I can hit driver a lot more this week where a lot of guys, just even noticing my practice round, we're kind of having to lay back at the corner.

of the dog leg with three wood, I can kind of shape it around the corner. The bombers do in the past, I might have a couple of shorter clubs on some holes, which will be nice. So how do you build the strategy for the week? Are you just analyzing the crap out of every hole as you play it and taking copious notes in your yardage book? Are you just trying to keep it simple and think through these are the two things I have to think about in this hole? Like, how do you approach a course that you've never played before to get ready to go? Yeah, I mean, I definitely think you can identify some spots that absolutely no-go zones. But I think, you know, a course like this, I felt the same way about Oakmont. As complicated as it is, it's also really simple. You either hit it exactly where you're

supposed to or you're kind of screwed. There's really not a lot of, you know, position B, C, or D. Like, you either hit it position A and you hit it to the middle of the green or the, you know, small little area on the shelf that you're supposed to or you're going to have a tough time making far. I think you definitely have to play from the pin back a lot. But I mean, other than that, it's not a lot of crazy strategy off the T, at least from what I saw in the back nine. You just got to hit it straight. Well, so we talked about the BMW, the second tournament at Muirfield at the Memorial, and then maybe to a lesser extent, the PGA as being the three sort of hardest set up courses that we've seen since the restart. Talk a little bit about how

this compares to those setups. What's different this week? Is it just, it's all hard? I mean, it sounds like the radiation of the rough is one thing. But why does this course feel different than those three that supposedly were the hardest setups we've seen so far? Yeah, I mean, I feel like this is my fourth major of the year, not second after those four, but after those three. But I think, I think the big difference is those three courses were only hard because we made them hard. with the conditions, with the rough, with the firmness. I mean, you saw what Morikawa and Justin did to Mirfield without those firm fast conditions. It's a very getable course.

Olympia Fields is the same way. There's nothing hard about it on its own until you bake it out. This course, without any rough, would still be challenging. Just, you know, it is a championship course. it's got the length, the amount of slope on the greens, the amount, the runoffs in front of the greens, around the greens, there's so much slope if you miss it pin high going down like Memorial, you can't, you can't get it within 10 feet. It doesn't matter how good of a fill-flop shot you've hit.

So I think this course is already a championship course. And then you add, you know, the USGA setup with good pin placements, with growing out the rough, with firming the course up and getting it really fast. it's going to be a monster. Based on what you've seen so far, the nine holes you've played and your own resume of courses you've played, both in the U.S. and elsewhere,

is there any venue that you kind of springs to mind as being comparable in your own experience? I got to play Oakmont a couple years ago. It wasn't in a tournament, but the members always like to brag that they have to slow down those greens for when we come there. So I thought, you know, for just a normal day to day,

it was still pretty comfortable. The rough wasn't up quite as much. But the thing I've really noticed this year playing these bigger events is with the rough the way it is and the conditions of the course, the bunkers are actually the best place to be a lot of the time in the fairway, but definitely around the greens. And that's new. I mean, not to bag on the cornferry tour because they do a good.

great job but a lot of the courses we play um you know they're obviously not this caliber and you've got you know rookie caddies out there you got wives carrying the bag and stuff like that so the bunkers are like you just put an x in them the whole day because you do not want to be there and here there's going to be four or five times this week that i bet i'm aiming for a bunker around the green like out of the rough trying to lay up there because i know it's going to be the easiest up down so that's definitely been a different thing and and something i've been a different thing and and something i've have noticed across all these, you know, championship courses. All right, my par saving pals, quick break.

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sleep better, recover faster, and train smarter with whoop today. Woop! So let's talk about you coming in. Last week, we were in Napa, the start of a totally new season. And you and I have one rule for Napa. What is the rule in Napa? Don't throw your umbrella. Well, I got reports.

Umbrella, I'm not sure. I have the text from you that says the number one rule is don't throw your umbrella. What are you talking about? What are you guys talking about? What is this? You want to tell the story? A couple of years back, sort of had a meltdown and was only seeing red and threw my umbrella at a tree unsuccessfully because it was open, which shows you how mad I was. But it was a torrential downpour. We shouldn't have been playing. And we called for a rules official because there was about an inch of standing water on the sixth tee box, I believe. And they came, told us that they were going to have someone come out and squeegee it and said.

So they proceeded to do that. We teed it up in an inch of water. I snapped put my drive in the left rough. And as we're walking up there, they blew the horn. And I lost my mind. Yeah, it was embarrassing. Yes, it was. and I got reports from the ground last week

that you threw your clubs all over the 18th hole. So what the fuck? From the actual ground that my wedge was dug into. No, it was the last swing of the tournament for me. And yeah, it was, I found the only rough on the course and decided to make it a little thinner for the next guy. Got it. How do you mentally go from where you were last week?

to this challenge this week. How do you reset and refocus and get in the game for what will probably be the hardest golf tournament you've ever played? I mean, honestly, I think the majority of my frustration last week was because I had gone to Napa knowing that the conditions are normally pretty firm and expecting a place that I could really take advantage of as well as prepare for this week. And I got there and the conditions could not have been more opposite. it. And I think that frustration got to me as I was feeling pretty much the entire week,

like, why am I here besides to drink nice wine? Because this is not getting me ready for next week. And that's what it was all about. I typically don't play well in week one. So I like having that kind of warm-up event, which is why I went. But yeah, I mean, I feel like I actually am in a really good headspace. I feel really ready for the week. I feel ready to get my butt kicked, but in a good way. I mean, I like this kind of golf. I think it's more just you have to into it expecting it. You know, I was expecting 13 under last week and it was 15 under through two rounds. I mean, the course just got eaten alive and I felt like every, every putt I hit last week it was, I was going to de-green one more putt this week because it was going to be so much firmer

and faster. So yeah, I mean, I think you just, you got to go into it knowing that it's just going to be an absolute war of attrition this week and you just got to stay super patient. And I think when I know it's going to be like that, I'm pretty good at keeping my head on my shoulders. You just touched on something that I've always kind of wondered about that I think is fascinating, which is, and it's a kind of a unique experience this year. The schedule has 50 events on it, starting with the event just concluded in Napa. So they're calling it a super season. As you sort of sit down and think about a schedule, to me, it seems like the idea of flying cross-country and using a cross-country trip to, you know, get a warm-up kind of round-in is

somewhat daunting. But, you know, Tommy Fleetwood flew to Portugal so he could get his practice round in. How do you think about, does that matter at all as you sort of map out a schedule and what you're trying to accomplish over a season, like the travel component of it? A little bit. Obviously, sitting on a long plane is not great for the body, but I mean, you only need a or two to get over that. I've always been pretty good about time change not affecting me. So I think maybe that's an advantage. I have. I think, you know, the travel to Europe, that's a real, you know, that's a real time change. That's something that can actually mess your party up. But a couple hours here and there, I mean, we're going back and forth all the time anyways. So, I mean,

that didn't really weigh too much into my decision. It was more I thought that I could really compete at Safeway. And I liked having that warm-up event. So, yeah, I don't think that weighs too much into the decision. I think more so what the course is week to week, historically, how I've played at those courses, that's going to weigh more into my decisions. But the fall is important for everybody now, right? So we got a lot more events.

We'll see you out here in L.A. in a couple weeks at the Zozo, which you would have been in Asia, were it not for the coach. COVID stuff. So how do you think about planning? I know the answer to this, but talk about how you think about planning your schedule in the fall, which now suddenly after last year, there are a bunch of guys who were on the outside looking in all of a sudden come the spring because they didn't get off their butts and get out and play this fall. We got, I think, 10 events in the fall. How do you think about structuring your schedule between now and the break over the holiday? I've always thought the fall was incredibly important. And it is, especially for the guys coming

off the web. I've been in that category a couple times. So I've always liked to play as much as I can in the fall, just power through, and then you get the break for the holidays. So I'm going to do the same this year. I'm going to play everything except Dominican and Bermuda. It's a big advantage and help to us to be able to play more that those Asia events are now in the States because, you know, traveling back and forth from Asia, that takes a real tool. So I'm going to play as much as I can. And I really like the fall courses. It's just nice, nice playing courses that you know. And then you can just get, you know, as many points under your belt as possible. It makes planning the rest of the season so much easier.

You mentioned your own expectations for playing well last week in Napa. And I'm not sure. We touched on this a little bit when you were kind enough to get your, your homies, Damon and Homa together. You know, there is because you guys have been playing well, and you in particular have been playing well in the 19-20, season, there has been heightened interest in your game

sort of across, both from like, you know, regular golf journalism, but also in like the DFS community, the Daily Fantasy people, those of us who might dabble a bit in the gambling arts have been paying attention to you. Do you, are you aware of the kind of the public sentiment that is sort of crystallizing as, you know,

sort of crystallizing as, you know, you know you're playing well, but can you kind of feel that there are heightened expectations, that there is a reset of your stature in professional golf? A little bit, but I guess it just feels more like support. Like, it's just cool having people reach out. Obviously, there's a lot of negativity on social media, but I'm pretty good about not caring about that and only caring about the people who do send good vibes my way.

But, you know, I don't feel like it's translated into any more pressure. I've always had the mindset that I'm doing this for me and my family. I am playing golf and trying to be the best that I can because I love it, not to impress anybody or, you know, I've never really even been that concerned with my world ranking or being in the Hall of Fame or anything like that. Like, I'm doing it for me because I love it and I just want to. be as good as I can be. So all the pressure really comes from what I put on myself. It doesn't really come from any outside stuff. So I mean, it's definitely been cool, you know, having the fun

jokes about Nick Faldo, making fun of my putter and, you know, just getting on TV more. And other than just thinking it's fun, it hasn't really affected me much. We'll get it out there. Is it a short putter? No. No, I mean, it's probably one inch shorter than average. I think the process. The tour average is somewhere between 34 and 35, maybe 36. But yeah, I have a 30. It's your donkey dinosaur arms. I have a 33-inch butter. Yes, I have a long torso and short arms,

and I probably should use a 38-inch butter, but it's my donkey T-Rex arms, you are correct. Well, so, all right, you said you talked a lot about the pressure you put on yourself. That has historically been the blessing and the curse. But you are playing better now. why are you better at golf now than you were a year and a half ago? I think I've learned to manage that pressure that I put on myself a lot better and just figure out kind of the mindset to get myself in when I do play well.

But I also think it's a lot of what Max touched on the last time we were here. Like, I'm just better. Like every part of my game has gotten better, especially my weaknesses, which historically have been my iron game. now are my strengths. You know, in college, I would hit four or five greens around. Now, there's a lot of weeks that I'm in the top 20 in greens and regulation. Like even last week I played poorly, my greens and regulation stats were up there.

So I've just gotten better in the areas that need to get better. At the end of last year, I was horrible out of the bunkers. The last, like, four or five weeks, I've been great out of the bunkers. Like, it's just about identifying your weaknesses and training strength. So, I mean, a lot of it is I've grown up. I've gotten better at my emotion. but I'm also just better at golf. There's no magic recipe where it's like, oh, he found one thing,

and now he's, you just got to keep growing in every area. And in that vein, I know sort of the typical tour player has an entire support system. You have a golf coach, swing coach kind of person in your life. You have a physio person in your life. You know, there might be a psychology element to it. But how have you been able to sort of work with your team, so to speak, in this post-restart moment where you can't physically be with all those people all of the time to get the kind of support that would otherwise be normally available? Well, I'd like to think that Nathan and my wife are both my psychologist and physio. they just keep me sane as well as tell me I'm fat and keep me humble.

So those two. And then really I just have my coach in Houston, which is it's nice. It's one of the reasons I moved there and I live there is that I can work with him. So I feel like I was one of the few people, not only on tour, but in all walks of life that really benefited from the COVID break. obviously it was, I wish we just had a break without, you know, the terrible stuff that went on, went along with it. But to have that time off and to really work with my coach, it really, really benefited me a lot. So as much as this COVID stuff is weird, I haven't really struggled with it from a golf standpoint. It's kind of been a blessing in disguise. It has been a very long time

since somebody outside the top 50 in the world won a major. Can you win this week? Is this a course that somebody outside that top 50 can break through? Because there's weeks where you show up and we'll get on the phone and you're like, I mean, there's only four or five guys who can win this week. And it's the guys who hit the living shit out of the ball because there's no rough and all that. Does this feel like it's more a true filtering course or is it still going to benefit those guys this week? I don't think it's going to benefit the length. I think it's going to benefit the precision.

I think if you've got guys, you know, if D.E. DJ is still playing as well as he is and hitting it as well as he is. You know, a guy like Rory just, you know, gets into his groove. It's definitely going to benefit those guys. You know, Colin Morcawa, if he goes nuts with his irons, it's definitely going to benefit the top guys in the world just because you've got, you have to hit it so good on this course. For me to win, I'm going to definitely have to put my face off.

I do think it's possible this week. just because, like I said earlier, I don't think this course gives an advantage to one type of player. I think lots of different types of players can win on this course. But, I mean, whoever wins this week is absolutely going to be the guy that played the best. There's just, you can't get away with anything on this course. So, I mean, yeah, for me to win, I'm going to have to hit it really well off the team. I have to put great.

What's your guess on the winning score? It's so tough. the, like I said, the course is still, the greens are still really soft right now, but they have sub-air. So, I mean, they can firm them up like that. And then it, it's going to come down to the pin placements, how crazy they get with them. I could see, you know, I could see if it stays like this right now, I could see four or five under. If they firm it up, I could see three, four over. I mean, I could absolutely see overpar winning this event. And I think I'd probably lean toward,

the latter of those two. I'd be surprised if it's anything above one or two under. If you don't win this week, how will you walk away feeling like it was successful? Because there's 143 guys who have to process that. So what is a great week that isn't a win look like for you? I mean, I don't think it looks like anything. I think it's going to be a lot more internal. I think it's going to be about how I manage my emotions on a really tough course, manage my game. But it's also, I haven't historically played a lot of courses like this and big events like this. And it does take a different kind of golf. You can't just like dink it and dunk it around here. You can't, you got to hit big, high, beautiful golf shots all over the course. And so I'm

in a way not adjusting my game, but I think a course like this, playing more events like this, like you get better. The top guys, you know, I've always said this, the better you play, the easier it is to get better, just because you're competing on these high-level golf courses and the only way to really understand how to get better, you don't know what you don't know, right? So if you're just playing these short little courses

where there's no penalties for missing in certain spots, you don't have that kind of bar set. And now that I'm getting into these big events like Memorial and like BMW at Olympia Fields, I kind of am seeing a different level of golf. And so now my floor and my ceiling are at a different level for my game. So it's really going to be more just about how I manage myself and what I can learn from this week going forward

because I'm going to keep getting into these big events. And what kind of free shit are they handing out this week that you can send to me in-house? Yes, the free stuff, the swag. USGA swag is pretty strong. We're not getting much along the lines of swag. We get a discount online for all of our merch. Oh, joy.

We're getting free Ruth Chris every night, so I could send you that, but I don't know how it would be in L.A. when you get it. I will take a picture of me eating juicy steaks every night, if that'll help. Please post those. Well, I'll gladly retweet that. Yeah, it's nice that you have to play a hard course and all, but what's in it for us is really what we want to know. Oh, man.

Well, Markey, if, if, I, if this is an uncomfortable question, we'll, we'll have Stevie, the producer, take it out of this show. But I, I want to end with this, this, I'm going to put it to you like this. If you don't win this week and Nate and I are expecting you to win, but if you don't win this week, you had to pick one of your fellow competitors. Who would you pick? Yeah, has anyone ever had their first win as a major?

Keegan Bradley. Oh, really? Nice. Ben Curtis. He's not my... Really? I would say, I mean, it's tough to look past DJ right now. If he keeps doing what he's doing, I think these greens, historically, I would say,

I think these greens are really challenging, so he might not fare well, but man, he's been putting great. Yeah, I mean, to me, you just,

I definitely think you do have to hit it straight and very well off the tee, but it's not, the fairways aren't overly tight. So I do think, if anything, I put advantage to guys who are awesome iron players this week. So,

I mean, I think if Colin plays well, I think he's got a chance. There you go, House. That was the name I was waiting to hear. I just wanted, because I have them in my back pocket here. It's not exactly a secret anymore.

If you can play well at Memorial, I think you asked me a comparable course. I think in a way Memorial is like this. I think this is a much better course than Mirfield when Mirfield was firm and fast like that. I think Mirfield is not meant to play that fast. whereas this course or that firm and fast, whereas this course is. So I think this is more of a fair test. I think there was some goofy holes when we got it, the conditions there at Mearfield. But I think if you can play that course well, I think you should be able to play this course well.

It's definitely similar in a lot of the regards where the fairways aren't overly demanding. You've got to come in with a certain shape. If you miss the fairway, you're going to get penalized. But you've got to hit good iron shots. Well, that sounds like John Rom's going to win then. Sounds like Bryson's going to take 10 swings with a three-wood out of the rough and miss the cut. Yeah, I mean, I definitely don't think that is probably my favorite thing about this sport so far is I don't think there's a huge advantage of just wailing on a driver trying to hit it 360.

Because, I mean, I think there's a lot of dog legs. Like, I don't know how with the way Bryson launches it and the trees overhanging 18, for example, like I don't physically know how you would cut that dog leg off. Oh, shit. He's going to take that as a chance. challenge, dude. Yeah, no, I'm sure. But he will be risking hitting a tree and having it go 60 yards. Yeah, you played with him in Detroit on the way to him winning. Yeah. What was the sort of thing that you noticed most about his launch angle about that swing? Did it impress you? I mean,

Adam Scott came back and was like, what's the big deal, mate? But what did you see? The launch angle definitely impressed me. It's about the same as my nine iron only hit. It was good. Like, it just never came down. Like, and it was so flat up top. Like, you could just tell, you know, he's a numbers guy and he's really optimized everything, everything about his ball fight. But that's not going to work this week, it sounds like. I just, yeah, I just don't think there's an advantage to carrying it. Obviously, he can hit some shots, but like I said, there's most, of course, we play, there's an advantage if you can fly at 305 because it gets wider.

It just doesn't get wider here. with the severity of the dog legs, like he's going to have to worry about hitting it through the fairway, just like any of us. Like it doesn't matter if you're hitting in 285 you can go through or if you're hitting in 385 you can go through and then the rough stress is penal. If anything, it's more penal, the closer you get to the hole.

So I just don't see him having an advantage. You know, Nate just tapped into something that I've been wondering about as you've been playing through this restart. You've had the opportunity because you've been playing, well to play with a whole variety of different guys that I don't think you've played with before. You've seen a lot of different guys across the tour. I know that you were paired up with Victor Hovlin at one point post-restart. And I think you play with JT before, but you were with JT for a bit. Over the last like, you know, 12, 13 weeks, is there anybody that you played with,

including Bryson, that you hadn't had that opportunity to actually play holes with and you're like, hey, wait a minute. This guy's, this is an interesting fellow out here. Jim Herman. Yeah. Well, I mean, you play with Jim Herman when Jim Herman won the golf tournament. I will, actually, I will, I might go with that answer because when he plays good, it looks so flawless, but you're also watching him the whole time. Like, how is he doing this? Like, he is absolutely the guy I would take to My Muni and go hustle people because he is just so,

even and he's the nicest guy and it's so underwhelming like he's just quiet and reserved and super nice and just like you wouldn't think he has a killer instinct but under pressure like he just made everything like it's unbelievable what he gets out of his game like he talk about optimizing and maximizing like he is impressive but yeah I mean other other than Bryson

just because of the way he's hitting the golf ball just how far it's going No one's really stood out. I know that sounds bad, but, you know, good golf is good golf. Right. You know, I've heard when Rory's on, he's someone that people kind of stop and watch. But other than that, I really haven't played. I haven't played with him.

I haven't played with DJ. Those are probably at the top of my list of guys that I would want to be paired with. But other than that, I mean, it's just good golf. Well, maybe Saturday. Moving Day, you and DJ. That's what we're rooting for. That would be awesome. Well, I think that's the perfect way to end this.

We don't want to keep you from your routine any longer. Mark Hubbard, thank you very much for coming on this week. We wish you the absolute best of luck. Nate and I will be invested in you in a whole variety of ways. We're counting on a great performance, but we're not putting any more pressure on you than you already put it on yourself. Oh, no worries. Thanks for having me.

I got Ruth, Chris, Surf and Turf coming your guys' way. mail all the hyniken you can drink if you win this week coming from us that's a fact that is a fact all right my birdie buddies there we have it our enormous thanks for mark hubbard we're rooting for you this week birdie buddies we are back after the end of this tournament when there is a brand new u.s. open champion nathan hubbard and i will be convened to go through everything that we saw over the course of the weekend. Everybody enjoy this outstanding U.S. Open at this iconic venue. The weather looks absolutely perfect.

It's going to be incredible to watch it on television. I hope you're able to throw a peg in the ground and get your own loop. And if you're able to over the weekend, let's have them straight up there.