Mark

Hubbard

Hubbard is known for his driving accuracy but he split just 29-of-60 fairways this week (T63). He made up for the poor driving with stellar iron play. He gained 8.9 strokes on approach (2nd), 2.1 strokes around-the-green (16th), and 2.7 strokes putting (17th). Hubbard got off to a slow start this season but has now matched his career high for top 10s (3) with two of those coming in the last three events.

Hubbard was the only golfer to card four sub-70 rounds last week at Colonial Country Club and got rewarded with a top-10 finish. He brought that momentum, and some added speed, to Muirfield Village. “I hit it short and low compared to the TOUR. You need to hit it far and high here to play well. So for me I got to putt really well, which is what I did today. I have gained some speed and with that has come some height.” Hubbard did carry over that momentum with seven birdies in the first 14 holes before dropping three shots to end his day. Taken a more realistic mental approach, Hubbard had this to say, “I have low expectations today and I think I’m not negative about it, like I want to play well, I’m going to try super hard on every shot, but I think I’m just being real with myself and that led to good play today.”

The straight shooter did not live up to his reputation off the tee this week, splitting just 27 fairways (T60) but he still managed 47 GIR (8th). That strong iron play out of the thick stuff was good for 7.3 strokes gained on approach which was third best in the field. He was the only golfer in the field to card four sub-70 rounds this week at Colonial Country Club. This will go in the books as his seventh career top 10 on the PGA TOUR (185 starts).

Hubbard was arriving with some converging trends but won’t get a chance to put them to good use. He had rattled off three straight top 30s while also having a pair of top 35s at TPC Craig Ranch. Gamers should remove him from all weekly rosters.

Hubbard made some headlines last week when he intentionally added a new driver to his bag on the back nine of his second round in Houston. His brother, Nathan, added some commentary on the matter, “Toe surgery coming Monday. Baby coming any day. 11 million strokes off the cut. Hitting 60 yard spectator hazard slices due to wrong driver setting. Changed at turn to make most of last competitive 9 of the szn.” Hubbard started strong this season (21st-5th-28th) but faded over his last four starts. He’ll look to have surgery to fix his toe and then hopefully have some time to get things tuned back up ahead of the 2023 schedule. He’s currently 48th in the early FedExCup race.

Hubbard signed for scores of 75-74 at Memorial Park GC, so this is a matter of semantics since he was going to miss the cut by a wide margin. But according to Tour officials, Hubbard added a 15th club at the turn and “used the club several times without declaring it out of play,” a clear violation of Rule 4.1c. He made two birdies on his second nine Friday, his only circles of the week. Hubbard had missed two straight cuts prior to this week but did start the new wraparound season with three straight finishes of T-28 or better, including a T-5 last month at the Sanderson Farms.

Hubbard was sleeping on his first 54-hole lead but wasn’t able to produce the same magic on Sunday. He lost 1.6 strokes off-the-tee on the outward nine and lost another 1.45 strokes on approach on the way into the clubhouse. “I felt like I was putting nails on the greens and around the greens early on, which to me tells me that I was handling my nerves okay. At the end of the day, I just all week didn’t hit enough fairways, and it finally caught up to me today.” Hubbard ended T105 in fairways hit percentage (43%) this week. Despite the sour finish, this will still go in the book as a T5 finish which he’s bettered just three other times in his PGA TOUR career.

The San Jose State product began the third round two shots off the pace, but he moved out in front with a 7-under 65 that included a closing birdie to go along with five straight on Nos. 11-15. Hubbard admitted after the round that his expectations were low this week at the Country Club of Jackson, given his daughter recently knocked a kitchen knife off the counter and into his foot. But those tempered expectations have been more than exceeded as Hubbard heads into the final round at 15 under, one shot clear of Mackenzie Hughes. Hubbard’s previous best position through 54 holes was solo second at the 2019 Houston Open, where he ultimately finished T-2. He’ll look to convert his first 54-hole lead into a maiden title in his 164th career PGA Tour start. In so doing, he would become the 14th player to make this event the site of their first victory.

The 33-year-old Hubbard carded a 5-under 66 on the final day at Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, Calif., to earn 12 points on the day, and he finished with 37 points, six behind winner Chez Reavie. The week prior, at the Barbasol Championship, he opened and closed with rounds of 65 to finish solo third for just his second ever podium finish and first since a T-2 at the 2019-20 Houston Open. On the season, the San Jose State alum has made 15 cuts in 19 starts with seven top 25s. He’s also made five Korn Ferry Tour starts this season, making all five cuts and and recorded three straight top 10s. He’s in the field for this week’s 3M Open at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minn., where he finished 16th in 2021.

The San Jose State product peppered 15 greens in regulation today at the Tahoe Mountain Club. With 14 GIR yesterday, he ranks T6 at the moment in GIR percentage this week. While he made it looks easy today, he told the media otherwise, “It was tough early, man, with the cold and the elevation. It’s hard to know how far the ball is going, and it seemed like every pin on our front nine, the back nine, was front with water short, so you couldn’t really play with it. So it was just tough to get the ball close early. Once it heated up and started going another 10 percent I started making some birdies.” Hubbard started on the 10th today and was even-par at the turn before rallying with five birdies on the homeward half. The 33-year-old posted a third-place finish last week at the Barbasol in what was just his fourth career top 10 so it would be quite a feat to rattle off two in a row.