It’s MAJOR WEEK and the Big Drive Bros have a special guest. Joining them this episode is 10 year PGA Tour vet and recent medalist in qualifying for the US Open at Pinehurst: Mark Hubbard. The discuss life deciding between basketball and golf, what the PGA Tour is like from the inside and changing up his entire schedule to play in the US Open
An ALLCITY Network Production
SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/@bigdriveenergygolf
ALL THINGS BDE: https://linktr.ee/bdegolf
BIG DRIVE ENERGY PODCAST:
Apple – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/big-drive-energy/id1524856425
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/6EmulJBSOENPdTBjboQMOI?si=HdvT81gzSpejQDRYW96D_g
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL:
Tik Tok: @BigDriveEnergy
Twitter: @BigDriveEnergy
Instagram: @Bigdriveenergypod
Check out https://pinsandaces.com and use code BDE to receive 15% off your first order and get free shipping.
When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions.
Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.
[Music] big Drive energ en winnner Circle Monday we’ve got quite the week coming up in golf and just finished quite the weekend in golf as well Scotty sheffler wins at the memorial we’ve got Carlos Ortiz winning Liv golf Houston their little primer for the upcoming US Open and then we’ve got a firsttime winner Linea STM on the LPGA Tour shot an impressive final round she made the cut on the number and then ended up winning the tournament so got some stuff to talk about today too and then we’ve got a special interview for you guys Mark hubard PGA Tour veteran cut machine made all 16 cuts on the PGA tour this year and if you were paying attention to last season or last Monday excuse me a week ago today in the US Open qualifying he was The Medalist at the US Open qualifying up in Canada after he played the RBC shot a Chris 15 under so we’re going to talk to him about qualifying for the US Open how it changed all his plans life on the PGA tour his Hall Pass uh in the team event and much much more so make sure you stick around for That interview all right let’s te it up what’s up brother uh I hit someone on the way in here today so it’s been a it’s been a great Monday so far same road now two different accidents for me in the span of a month so what a treat Mulligan a week right out of the gate just [ __ ] I was going approximately half a mile per hour and there’s no damage so it’s like it’s more just like scary but then I’m late and it’s just a big CF if you know what I mean oh yeah uh I mean I was talking to you on the phone like 15 minutes ago and then Marissa is like you know Spencer got into an accident I’m like well it must have been in the last 15 minutes because uh that’s that was pretty recent but uh yeah not a great way to start out your week um not a great way like Sebastian Soderberg on the DP World Tour I want to touch on this real quick he was 21 under through three days and had an eight shot lead going into Sunday and lost he lost the tournament sh saw the putt he missed to lose it full like God or whoever you believe in did not want him to win that event he shot 77 on Sunday and the cool thing was so was called the Scandinavian mix they do this on the DP World Tour every year it’s women and men in the same field um so he got beat by a girl he got beat by Lynn Grant she went and shot Seven under on sun Sunday and he shot five over so she effectively came back from 12 shots back she started at 10 under on the day he started at or 11 shots back he started 21 under she started at 10 under and she won the event so uh and Soderberg like I mean everybody’s gone through it but he got The Yips like that last putt he missed that right hand was hitting hard it was flick in the bottom of the putter face and you could just tell he did not feel comfortable so heart goes out to that guy because uh everybody’s been there at one point or another but it is not a fun place to be so second place probably couldn’t have felt worse for him yeah he had the full rigsy full rigs full crossy putter movement just jabbing at it oh was painful head starting uh back here somewhere yeah he’s trying to hit a yeah tilted head take the putter way inside stab at it Miss it left our boy James Orlando to take the open too we will talk about the US Open on Wednesday but I’m going to go out yeah we got full preview Mitchell weather report he’s already prepping it he’s already been looking at the forecast but I’m going to go out on a limb and say no because the Masters is a spot I I might sound like an idiot that we might I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that one guy out of a you know over 100 person field is not going to win that event well no he’s clearly the best player but I I mean saying it’s not shocking to not pick one dude like even as good as he is right now yeah you don’t think so like I think most people if it’s Scotty or the field in a major championship or any big event I mean the guy’s won he’s either won been arrested or had a kid seven in the last 12 weeks he’s been on tour so the guy’s on an all-time run and he will become the third player ever if he wins the US Open to win six times in a year along with two majors so tiger did it multiple times uh and then oh God I saw the name it was back in 1994 but it’s been done only twice but only by two players before if he wins two majors he is kind of debunking the myth that we talked about a little earlier and the fact that he hasn’t won like after May so now he’s won in June and he’s starting to win on the East Coast a little bit so you know Ohio is not the East Coast you [ __ ] okay the the mid west north of the South a nons South Region a nons South Region event I think the craziest thing about that win though is he did not make a 10 out he made one putt outside of 10 feet all weekend like he or one yeah you’re right yes he made one and he legitimately puted like [ __ ] and still won one of the toughest PJ tour events I mean he made triple on number nine Saturday to get he had a three shot lead at that point fell back to eight under and then just grinded it out all freaking day on Sunday and the guy is it when you watch there’s really nothing that stands out like it’s just shot after shot he controls his distance he the ball striking is always on point everything about what he does is just Bland but it’s it’s so money like he he just doesn’t miss a shot he plays boring Golf and so I mean kudos to him he’s a winning machine he’s going on a tiger esque year 2000 type of run so uh just crazy to actually witness this like we thought Jordan Speed did that we we thought that Justin Thomas was gonna do this so Scotty now officially the next is he Patrick Mahomes to you know Tigers Tom Brady is he is he the second coming like this it’s crazy to to witness yeah he’s a couple little quick facts what like you said made one putt over 10 feet all week weend they there was a tweet about his shots from 120 to 140 yards his last five approach shots it was like six feet four feet seven feet eight feet I mean the guy is a true machine and he like because it’s tour averages like L stagner always showed us the tour averages hook him Greg we love him I love him I love me some Scotty uh the tour averages are obviously different when you watch the best player in the world but he makes blows all those out of the water and changes expect ations for when you watch him hit a lot of golf shots on a Sunday and then you go slap it around Sunday afternoon or Sunday evening or Monday or whatever you’re like ah 120 yards I should hit it to 6 eight feet and it’s just otherworldly what the guy’s doing right now the Gap in official World Golf Ranking points between him and world number three Rory maroy is the same Gap that is between Rory and the 100 the 613th player in the world Anthony Quail so that’s how far he is just like lapping the field full match sta in style have you seen the money list I think he’s got an over12 million lead he’s doubled up Xander schafle he’s made million this year and Xander made like 12 24 million this season Xander at 12 point he’s 12.4 ahead of Xander at 11.6 it’s just an otherworldly stuff that he’s doing this dude is getting NBA money on the PGA tour and he’s G to make he’s going to make 4450 Million by the end of the season it’s going to be insane yeah he he’s been unreal uh something else that’s unreal that we’ll get to real quick before we get to our interview with Mark so I want to shout out Linea stom she won her first ever LPGA event this past weekend the shopright LPGA classic um she made the like I said in the intro made the cut on the number and shot 11 under 60 on Sunday she was seven shots back on Sunday ended up winning the event being seven shots back and uh she said afterward she’s like honestly did not expect this way waking up today this is proof that you should never go give up just go out there and give it your all it’s the lowest Final Round by an LP uh by a winner in LPGA tour history and the second lowest uh ever Anica saurin stamp shot of 59 in 2001 so something that’s not been done in 23 plus years and she just dominated to win too it’s not like the Rory 61 where you’re 50 shots back and barely making the cut on a Sunday and then you know firing a 60 and feeling yeah being like top 20 top 25 another shout out to Carlos Ortiz a lot of people don’t know who that is but he won live golf Houston this past weekend I really thought you were talking about the corn fairy tour when you mentioned Carlos Ortiz I forgot that he made the jump I was like oh did he win on the corn fairy tour because he was on the he he made it out to the PJ tour he one of the you know young promising Stars probably five six years ago struggled out on tour fell back into the corn fairy tour and now he whose team is on and live do you remember he is oh the high fly or the yeah I don’t know I’m looking at the balls is he the cleaks no he’s definitely not the cleaks but one of those lame ass team names that we can’t remember uh but no I mean he’s a good player I don’t even think he’s in the US Open so you know whatever uh no but he did win uh he won the Houston open in 2020 so he owns Houston so LPGA I’m I’m gonna go out and Limb and say the first ever player to win PGA Tour event and a Live Tour event in the same city so making history Carlos Ortiz well Brooks has won a few times on the the Liv tour I wonder if it’s been in the same spot as uh this their first tournament in Houston ever okay well yes in Houston but you’re saying in the same city PJ tour Liv tour oh yeah I’m hon yes Carlos Ortiz I think holds that prize I maybe need to be fact checked there but what’s new what’s new all right anything else you want to get to quick before we get to our ads and then send it over to the interview with Mark um I don’t think so man I’m I’m really looking forward to the US Open this week I’m fired up it’s going to be can’t believe we’re already on our third major of the year and it’s feels like golf season’s just starting for everybody else in America but you know here we are we got to enjoy it while we got it yep tune in live big Drive energy 10:00 a.m. Mountain 12:00 p.m. eastern time Wednesday we’ll give you our full US Open preview at Hur before we turn it over to Mark want to tell you guys about our great friends over at Shady Rays I’ve had a few people text me tweet us ask what the code is it is ac35 that will save you 35% off polarized sunglasses they’ve got the new green wolf golf sunglasses I keep them in my golf bag and only strictly wear them when I’m playing golf played golf on Saturday and wore my green wolves the whole round it was another day of like overcast we didn’t think we’d be able to make it thought we’d get some rain it’s been it it was a wild afternoon but we played 18 holes in like around 4 hours 410 which was incredible because the rain scared everybody away but the green wolf glasses when it’s a little overcast changed the whole view of the golf course and I was hitting I was hitting some darts with my green wolf glasses on Shady Rays is by far the best golf sunglass company I’ve ever used uh I got rid of all my other sunglasses and just have the Shady Rays not only in the bag but in my car in my backpack wherever they’re an independent sunglass company offering worldclass product rated five stars by over 300,000 people ton of different colors options Styles and if they ever go missing or takeing un unexpected hit don’t sweat it they have the most insane Protection Program in all of Iowa every pair is backed by lost or broken Replacements gregy gregy was one of the guys that texted me he got his green wolfes this morning shout out to Shady Rays we’re getting people in their Shady Rays use that code ac35 for 35% off polarized sunglasses try for yourself the shades rated five stars by over 300,000 people also our friends over at wait real quick you told me you hit a few Shanks this weekend you must have not had the sunglasses on no uh yeah it was a terrifying moment backtack shanko off uh and no no sunglasses no no that at that moment they were off me so yeah I so you need to put them back on once I put them back on then it was just dart back to Dart city um mention that thank you uh that was we had that conversation in private but now it’s out there for everybody to hear yes I absolutely hled I so real quick I hled one the guys that I was playing with were in the cart kind of close to me they asked if they were okay I said yes then I shanked it and they asked are you sure we’re okay they’re like no no no hit another one whatever that’s our fault they drive down to the green and I shank another one onto the next te box so it was quite the treat I I did save bogey which was awesome I went over chipped it just short of the green and then chipped it in so uh it was great to make bogey there but it uh overall was a a very scary moment Spencer can’t help but go shot for shot no it’s you’re addicted to just telling everybody your rounds a golf but you you brought up my two Shanks so I have to qualify them with what happened there’s got to be a story behind the shanks do your last saty and then we’ll get to this interview all right bet 365 use the code All City at signup and you get to choose between two offers a first bet safety net of $1,000 or betting $5 and getting 150 in bonus bets when you sign up with that code we do all our golf betting we’ll have our hot US Open picks it was kind of a bad week for the boys Victor hin I I don’t know what happened to him Shane Lowry shot 86 yesterday so and not that we had him on our card but there was there was some really rough rounds out there this weekend Victor hin in the middle of Saturday I was playing golf so I wasn’t quite checking but I knew he was a shot or two off the lead I forgot to check on whole nine I look at the leaderboard and I had to scroll like four screens before I even found him so he absolutely dogged you know what at us but my boy Matt Fitzpatrick three under through five leading the whole tournament I got really hyped on Thursday made a mess out of nine and ended up being like one or two over kind of hanging around that area finishes at two under on the event and finishes in the top five so my unit bet returned seven units on top of that so I had basically an even week shout out to Matty Fitz for that top five finish but bet 365 is by far the best way to bet golf they have a bunch of boosts I got I used my 50% boost this week on Patrick Klay missing the cut one of the worst players in the field other than Ricky Fowler he’s playing like dog [ __ ] recently it’s not good for him bro I wanted to make a meme and I wasn’t quick enough of the Ricky Fowler he made birdie and it was like to get to 13 over like Chris Paul Nails a three to get the Suns within 42 that’s what it was like for Ricky Fowler but use bet 365 when you and when you sign up you get those two awesome offers we use it every single week you can bet the each ways on the golf we span it to one through 12 so you bet your unit it doubles it for you puts one on them to win and one on them to place in the top 12 so we’re going to be doing that for the US Open make sure you tune in on Wednesday 12:00 pm eastern time for our full US Open preview at Pinehurst we are going to turn it over to PGA Tour player Mark hubard what a great interview enjoy awesome welcoming on to the big Drive energy podcast from Denver Colorado one of our guys Mr Mark hubard 10-year PGA tvet and an absolute cut machine just loves playing golf on the weekend 16 for 16 this year with a couple of top 10 Mark thanks so much for taking some time to join us congratulations on qualifying for the US Open coming up this weekend yeah thank you I appreciate it thanks for having me absolutely man well so we’ll kind of get into let’s just hop right into the US Open stuff uh you played the sectional in Vancouver correct uh no it was just outside of Toronto like right near Niagara oh okay for I guess I just saw it was Canada so but that makes sense because the scoring was so early like Vancouver was the last one scored um but so did you get to pick your site um and kind of give people an insight as to how that works like you were probably I assume uh exempt into the sectional because of world rankings and all that yeah correct there’s a category think it’s top 500 in the world get through um get through the locals and straight into sectionals and then you list your first three choices so you kind of pick them in order um and you know obviously the PJ tour guys and the higher ranked guys uh you know automatically get their first choice most of the time um and then it kind of goes down from there in terms of your status uh they do a couple of qualifiers so the one I did in Canada was you know pretty close to where we had the uh RBC Canadian open um and then they had you know they have a couple in Ohio for the guys playing in Memorial so they do kind of do some sites kind of based on where the PJ tour schedule goes um so those are the ones that usually have the most spots and the ones that we pick just for you know ease of travel uh they also do a kind of an early one in Dallas uh since that’s a you know centrally located area where there’s a lot of Tor Pros they do that a couple weeks ago uh to kind of fit that in our schedule too and that’s they do that around either Byron or which are in Texas so they make it easy for us I was going to say that’s probably pretty close to obviously where you played the RBC and when you play in a 36 hole sectional like that are you yeah you know you I mean you went insanely low anyways but is it like you know you have to do that so you kind of step on the gas from the start or do you just play the course as it is try to find birdies and then kind of get going from there yeah I think it depends a lot on the course um you know I’ve I’ve played one before up in the DC area at Woodmont and it’s a pretty challenging course I mean uh usually it’s you know somewhere between six or seven under gets through there um I know I’ve had some buddies play one in New York that was really tough where like you know one o one under even par will get in some years just based on the course um so it really depends this one you know was a really good golf course but it was you know older and and shorter and um you know you could tell based on the conditions the scores were going to be pretty low so yeah it was definitely you know foot on the gas the whole way well so you said the putter got hot how early like what what point was it the second or third you know somewhere on the front nine where you’re like okay I’m rolling it like let’s go yeah I mean it was honestly it’s been it’s been a while coming I actually had a a putter switch about a month ago um I’ve been working really hard with my coach on some stuff with my stroke and uh just got to a point where the putter that I used to be using was kind of uh prohibiting me from making the changes um was kind of you know Mak me fall back into some old bad Tendencies so I just said screw it and and switch to this new Putter and I’ve been rolling it great um but necessarily hadn’t seen the results uh especially up in Canada at the RBC I felt like I was hitting every putt right where I was looking and not even sniffing the hole and I thought I was going crazy like my eyes were messed up or whatever we just could not read The Greens at all uh then we got to Cherry Hill for the qualifier and it was you know like I said an old old school course where greens pretty much just kind of back to front um they actually had a thing there you know how I don’t know if you played in like Palm Springs but they say everything breaks to India and you’ll go places where it’s like oh everybody breaks to this Valley so they had one there where it was everything breaks to the southeast but that’s where Niagara Falls was so it actually kind of made sense that you know the water would sort of drain that way uh so and it was really true and I just found those greens really easy to read so um it it kind of yeah it was early in the round but it almost uh felt like it had been like a month in the making and and it was just nice to finally uh see some putts actually go in because I I knew I was rolling it well but uh they just weren’t falling yet yeah did you get a chance to like really look at that Golf Course before you played it or was just kind of like show up it’s close to where the RBC was and you played obviously played again on the weekend at the RBC so and then you show up and you’re like oh well here we go 36 today at a place I’ve never really seen yeah yeah that’s how it is a lot of the times um you know that’s why people will do the same qualifier you know every year at the same place it’s just kind of get some course knowledge but yeah I I didn’t get a chance to see this one ahead of time they did have yard books so that’s obviously helpful um but yeah you know there’s there’s something to be said for that you know sometimes with us you know on tour we can kind of over complicate things and and um you know read too much in the strategy and there’s something to be said for just kind of pointing and shooting and you know we didn’t really know where to hit it so you just kind of keep it in front of you and hit it where you can see it and uh you know hit it hit it to the the green a lot on on all you’re unsure of and uh you know there’s something to be said for that because obviously it worked out yeah I was going to say I mean if you’re just hitting in the middle of the green a lot and then you’re making putts like there’s no sense in aiming anywhere else but the middle um but would you say your caddy earns his pay a little bit more on days like that where you know you I mean he hasn’t seen the course either but you know you’re kind of really leaning on him because you’ve never seen it before so you’re like you really probably got to agree on clubs and and really feel comfortable over shots that you’ve never seen before yeah absolutely we we work well together and um he definitely played a big part in that he did uh get to carry the his small carry bag that day instead of the staff bag so I knew he had a lot of extra energy to guide me around um but yeah no it was great I mean I I felt like we did a good job game planning and then he also knew that I was feeling it with the putter so he kind of just got out of my way and and let me roll it too so it was it was the Perfect combo that’s awesome so you have played in The Uso open before back in 2020 at wingedfoot and then this year obviously it’s at Pinehurst um what do you what do you think of the venue of Pinehurst just as a as a US Open venue compared to like a traditional one like a winged foot yeah I I haven’t been before so I’m super excited um obviously I’ve watched it on TV uh so you know I the co year is when I played wingf foot um I don’t feel like I got the full US Open experience uh you know there was no fans and I didn’t go through the whole qualifying so so this one’s a little more special because of that too but it is you know it’s not maybe like an old school uh type of US Open course but it’s definitely an iconic one uh and I know how challenging it’s going to be um so I I I’m excited I do feel like this is going to be the full you know the full Test the full experience with the fans and and just the you know pars pars or birdies that week and and yeah I’m excited to for the challenge you know well I don’t know if you’ve seen it or not but you’re I don’t know if you pay attention to the odds but you’re plus 25,000 to win this week maybe we throw a little bit of a sprinkle on on hubs to win the uh US Open you never know yeah yeah I mean it’d be pretty cool back toback years having a Colorado kid win yeah we we would eat that up we got we got eaten up by Windam in high school um but we would love back toback Colorado us opens speaking of betting real quick so obviously you know there is some we we’ve had a corn fairy Tour player on our podcast and he was one of the guys that got nabbed for Vince India for um the whole betting Scandal so obviously we know like you guys can’t really do it but I was reading an article in Golf Digest this past week and I think it was the undercover caddy article where there’s a there’s a caddy on tour that like writes this every week and nobody knows who he is and he was saying that with betting like a lot of people are making more comments to players and I just wanted to know if like that’s the case with you because I mean I’ve bet on you the last two weeks and I’m not going to you know out you and be like hey you need to make birdie here but he said that players are like hearing a lot more of that from the fans have you noticed that since betting’s become more legalized and more regulated yeah definitely we we go through like seminars uh you know what what to say and what not to say um and I don’t think people are ever like out there like asking us for advice or you know anything that could get us in trouble but the the comments are constant just like hey I need you to make this putt I have you know 80 bucks on FanDuel on you like it’s just non-stop with that I mean literally probably five times around minimum you hear something like that so uh it definitely the sports betting has taken over for sure well now you guys know how like fantasy football or like football players used to feel before Sports gambling was legal and everybody was always tweeting their fantasy football roster like talking [ __ ] about him just like some insane people out on the internet so um hopefully you guys don’t deal too much with that stuff but we want to get so we kind of want to start from the beginning you grew up in Colorado give us um you know your experience playing junior golf in Colorado uh a few things like that what was your high school golf like um and just give us your favorite like course in High School in Colorado yeah so I grew up uh in jese up in the mountains uh we were like the last house on the CAC so we had a ton of just open Forest acreage behind our house uh and so that’s actually kind of where I learned to play uh we just had a mat there and my mom had like a bucket of like 300 yellow pink orange golf balls and I would just whack them into the forest and then go have like an Easter egg hunt we used to call it um so that’s literally like when I was you know three four five that’s kind of how I got into the game uh and then we were members at Rolling Hills in Golden um so that’s where I kind of got my first lessons and you know played all the junior Club championships and stuff there um as far as like you know the as I got older the other stuff I didn’t really play as as much kind of uh National tournaments like I did a few ajas here and there but you know how it is today like you’re basically a professional you if you really want to achieve in your sport like they have these kids basically acting like the professional when they’re 11 and and that was not me like I I liked to ski and I played basketball you know till probably till I was about 15 I thought I was going to go to the NBA obviously that wasn’t going to happen but um but yeah so I mean I just like to like to play for fun um and I think that’s helped me a lot you know I never really had any burnout and I felt like uh you know I still feel like when I’m on tour when I’m out there sometimes that like I learned how to be an athlete first and a golfer second and you know I can just like my my touch around the greens and you know just like natural athletic ability helps me where as you know I see other guys who have only played golf their whole life and they’ll get into some awkward lies and not really know how to handle it um so I I really liked that about my upbringing that my parents just kind of made me play all the sports and just made it fun for me and didn’t put a lot of pressure on um but yeah and then I would say probably about my junior year of high school um I kind of started realizing yeah like I’m pretty good at this I uh I might be able to have a future and at the very least get like a college scholarship so um I started playing a few more stuff and uh you know the cjga was amazing for me um they were they ran such great tournaments and you know even though wasn’t nationally recognized uh you know I felt like they you know are just as good as any any Junior Tour out there so um they really helped me a lot and uh I actually the the one that kind of got me on the map was uh it’s called the Optimus International they have it at PGA National down in Florida um so I went to a basketball camp the week before and just sprained the absolute [ __ ] out of my ankle uh and didn’t think I was even going to be able to play uh I had like a kind of semi cast boot on the whole week and it was a total like Beware of the sick golfer thing just went down there didn’t give a [ __ ] at all and uh back door the last day uh shot like one under in the even and the leaders all collapsed so I ended up winning and that was kind of what got me my scholarship um just because that was you know my first kind of national tournament that I had played uh so yeah so that was kind of where it started and then went to San Jose State and you know the rest is history dude that’s awesome well I actually so we we in very similar circumstances because we you know we were playing it against uh high schoolers like wendham Clark a lot of Valor kids you know and all those kids were playing in all the aggas and all that and it’s like like you said you’re they’re professional golfers but you’re not making any money so your family’s got to Shell out you know 1,500 bucks a weekend if not more for you to go play in those we were not afforded that luxury so we we were not able to to go play in that kind of stuff but I actually qualified for The Optimist one year um and was not able to go play in it because it you know it was like 2 200 bucks to get down there between flight and hotel and all that and I had just been selected to another thing down in Florida like the week after and my mom was like well you can either go you can go play in this you can go play in that but you can’t play in both so I didn’t end up going and playing in the Optimus but I’m very familiar um I definitely wouldn’t have won it that’s for sure but uh that is a that’s a very cool cool story growing up uh because we were like we hit balls into our field growing up too so we’re basically you know along the same lines uh always worked at a golf course when we were younger so yeah that’s it’s very cool to hear a a story about a guy that makes it on tour that’s you know wasn’t playing in 12 agga events every summer um you know kind of a story similar to ours so yeah I mean obviously you know Sports all sports are so competitive nowadays um but you know at the end of the day like you got to have a passion for it and and you got to just keep it fun I just I I see so many kids nowadays where it’s it’s already a job and it just makes me sad uh in in every sport not just golf um so I I know I got two daughters and I know they’re probably going to play sports but I’m never gonna you know I’m always going to try and keep it fun for them and if they happen to be really good at one that’s great but um you know I’m definitely not gonna push them like I see some of these parents doing yeah it sounds like we had like the same exact trajectory and then we just plateaued and you just kept going 10 plus year PGA Tour career what was it like going to San Jose State where there’s some other offers after that did you have some choices of colleges and was why was that the choice yeah I mean most I looked at a few like D2 and D3 schools that I could play both Golf and basketball but obviously I like I said I was not going to the NBA so that was a pretty good decision not to do that um and then honestly most of the schools that I was looking at were were really good academic schools um I got good grades I don’t know how because I’m kind of an idiot but um I guess I was book smart uh so I was looking at a lot of schools like back East that were you know really good schools but just so so golf wise and obviously you know back East it’s not the most ideal weather for your Round Golf if I really was going to try and make the PJ tour so San Jose um just I I had some connection U Gunner WEEI who’s is still playing his dad Mark uh I grew up playing with them and Mark went to San Jose State so he was kind of the one that got me interested and and just as far as offers went that was you know probably the best golf school and definitely the best climate to go play um so it just kind of it kind of worked out from that it was you know my mom was pushing me you know to probably go to some better uh academic schools but I you know I say that was kind of my first grown-up decision was okay I’m not going to go somewhere and and play basketball D3 and I’m not going to go you know somewhere and and you know just try and just for school like I I know I want to play golf so I’m gonna go here and see what happens that’s awesome man that’s you know that when you have that kind of vision you got to take a chance on it you know if you feel like you can make it in golf which it’s obviously paid dividends for you so you know your mom can’t knock that decision now um no for sure so your nickname is homeless hubs it’s on it’s your Twitter handle all of that can you give us a little insight into your nickname because I I read that it was when you were like uh playing up in the Canadian tour on the Canadian tour and you were with Billet families and you kind of prided yourself on being able to like sleep wherever so did that start at like San Jose State when you’re out partying you passing out on Floors or how did you get that nickname no it was actually um it was uh windham’s caddy right now John Ellis so I I played a bunch of minior stuff with him up in Canada but but even before that um I was playing you know I think it was like called the AG AGT or something like that and it was just Min tour stuff in Arizona uh and him and Brady Stockton who CES for chz ruy another uh PJ Tour player uh they had a little condo uh right by TPC Scottdale and so I basically just like crashed on their floor or couch for like three or four months and I’m usually pretty Shaggy appearance-wise and you know obviously wasn’t paying them any rent so they just started calling me homeless and it just kind of stuck after that so yeah it was it was Ellis who came up with it okay I like it that’s a great that’s a great nickname I mean the fact that it’s stuck is is money so yeah we had um we had a guy actually for True links which is the clothing company that I wear uh they hired this like um tattoo artist to do my bag and some other stuff but he actually made a a logo for me and it’s a little homeless guy golfing it’s really awesome that is awesome so how does that just like give some insight to everybody listening that’s obviously not on the PGA to or including us when you go through like a clothing sponsorship or stuff like that like do you have some choices of those do those people reach out to you did you find them and then what do you get to like try all the stuff on and figure out if you actually like it or it’s like hey they’re paying me so I’m just going to wear this whether I like you know whether it’s comfortable or my kind of style or not yeah there isn’t there isn’t a ton of people getting paid for clothes um you know obviously the big guys like Roy’s obviously getting a check from Nike and stuff like that but most of the clothing company you just get free stuff um and yeah it’s it’s both ways you reach out to them they reach out to you sometimes um I have an agent and so how I got involved with them is um so true links is Ryan Moore’s company and his brothers and his older brother who was his agent is also my agent so they kind of got me interested um they started off as just shoes and I was kind of having some problems with my Footwear with just my connection to the ground and my balance on the way I was moving and um true links is you know they’re all zero drop so you’re really you know connected to the ground they have a good toe box so I actually switched more for a performance-based reason uh to their shoes um just to try and help me with my my ground force and just my connection um and then they started making clothes and their clothes are super good uh so it was just kind of an easy transition but yeah it was it was just all through my agents yeah so is that MGM sponsorship through the agents as well is there there some perks on that you get some free rooms maybe some Casino time I don’t know if you’re a big Casino guy but uh I I yeah I love Vegas I love the casinos I’m not a huge Gambler mostly just because I’m very bad at it um but Jo the club everybody is they just people just don’t realize it I just yeah yeah exactly I just figure I shouldn’t have all the viic so that’s that’s one I try and stay away from but um yeah I know mgm’s great they’re one of my best best Partners uh and they hook it up with uh a ton of so it’s always fun the weeks we’re in Vegas we uh a lot of good even if you’re not gambling there’s a lot of good food and great rooms and stuff and they’re an awesome sponsor and um I mean the biggest perk is getting to play Shadow Creek out there uh it’s definitely in my top five favorite courses so uh it’s it’s always an awesome day out there with them you’re yeah you’re probably like I don’t know how I lost money being sponsored by these guys but I seem to be in my own pocket here at the MGM yeah that’s how they get you they use give you the credit and you go there and get every your room and stuff comp but then you lose twice as much on the tables so right uh well so you obviously you you live in Texas now um so you made the jump from Colorado to Texas you lived in California for school how do you land on Texas like other than the fact that there’s no income tax that obviously helps uh but what else like Drew you to Texas yeah I was uh used to be working with a coach here when I first moved um so that was why I chose the woodlands proper but I mean everybody you know sort of eventually moves for the most part to Texas Florida or Nevada uh for that state income reason um so we get we basically get taxed on each individual tournament by the state that we play in and then we get taxed on our overall income uh in the state that we live in so uh you know it it can get pricey especially if you know I played I played 33 of events last calendar year so you know I’m only home what’s that 29 weeks uh so you know less than half the year so to be paying you know paying to live somewhere it doesn’t make a lot of sense and then I think Texas you know for me why I chose that over Florida or Nevada I just I really obviously it’s centrally located so it’s easy to travel from but I think the golf travels really well here like we see a ton of different types of grasses a ton of different types of weather conditions we see a lot of wind a lot of grain uh so I just I I really think the golf here um is really great prep for anywhere we’re going in the country um so I just I feel like it’s a great home base yeah Texas seems like the spot where uh a lot of kids are growing up and it’s just like a factory for kids you know and we’ve talked about that where it’s like kids are just doing strictly golf but Texas seems like the spot that’s the most it’s not you know Florida’s great but it’s it’s not Texas just seems like the golf kind of the Hub of like PGA moved down there to Frisco now too so it’s it seems like that spot is growing and and it’s only going to get bigger in terms of the golf world yeah 100% there’s a ton of Pros here in Houston and and up in Dallas a few in Austin um yeah I mean I really do think that’s true like you know the the I play at this little nine-hole course uh great membership all the AMS are super good there you know like if I go out um and you know shoot 68 I’ll lose my ass like I got to take a deep they’re all good but I mean it’s a little it’s a little dinky n hole course that actually is in amazing shape but like it’s everywhere I play in the world it’s the toughest place I’ve ever played to chip on like it’s so tight it’s so grain it’s whatever so there’s just lots of Little Gems like that around Texas where it’s like I you know I play 33 events a year on the PJ tour and and this little nine hole course is the hardest place to chip on like you know it’s just it’s just great it’s great prep and um I just think it’s you know it’s underrated H how much did the uh Dallas Stars fans suck uh cuz we we ran into a few at the uh this um DraftKings at TPC Scottdale we were there watching the AVS stars and Spencer almost got into a fight with one of the the Stars fans um there was obviously a little liquor involved but they seem I at least from a Denver perspective they seem a little bit obnoxious so have you seen any of that with with stars fans like being in that area yeah well I’ll say two things uh one uh total my fault I went to game two which we lost um I have a horrible horrible track record now with attending uh Colorado sporting teams events on the road I’ve been traveling to a few and I need to stop uh I was at the Broncos 50o loss to Miami last year uh I was at game game two which we lost in Dallas so uh that one’s on me boys I’m sorry um but secondly yes I I uh you know Texans in general have a ton of Pride uh for their State as well as all of their teams um but I will say that having been here uh you know there’s a little Houston and Dallas rivalry so maybe that’s where some of it’s coming from but I I do find Dallas fans in general for all of their sports teams as one of the most annoying fan bases um but uh and yeah I don’t I don’t know if that’s a you know a Cowboys thing specifically or the fact that we just lost to the Stars so I’m a little bitter um but yeah that’s that’s how I feel we uh we go on a trip every year just the two of us to a different NFL City and we’ve been doing it since we were 18 and 19 actually the first year we went to Kansas City we couldn’t even check ourselves into our own hotel we had to ask some random person at a hotel in Kansas City to check us in because we weren’t old enough but we went down to Dallas want to say like three or four years ago the Broncos were horrible that year and Dallas was great I think they we were like 12o dogs or something and we absolutely slaughtered them and it was I remember that game yeah we were just had our jerseys on just absolutely lighten off our mouths to everyone we got these sweet club seats from one of the members at our Golf Course uh she was she was a Cowboys fan and they were like 50 yard line 20 rows up it was an unbelievable experience and then the Broncos just absolutely destroying them made it 10 times better yeah that sounds like a better better experience than we had in in Miami we uh we got to go on the field pregame so that was pretty cool and then after that it was all downhill we got absolutely crushed I think all of us got covid that weekend like it was just just everything that could go wrong went wrong after after halftime hey at least you were able to be a part of History you gotta watch History well it was true it was like one touchdown from history but it is very odd we’ll get into a little bit more Broncos stuff later though we’ll because we we’ve got some questions there for sure so we we kind of heard about your putter scenario so you just switched you play some ping woods and then Titleist irons and wedges is that just something that you’ve because I I mean I’m obviously a different universe level of golfer from you but I still have an adoms idea hybrid that I’ve had since high school that has like the graphite design shaft in it and I I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of it until I’m like too old to like swing an X shaft um but are do you have some clubs in your bag that you’ve had for a while or are you just comfortable with those or uh how’s how’s the bag setting up yeah yeah I kind of have a mix of a bunch of stuff U my putter that I was using uh was the oldest Club in my bag i’ had been using it since um 2015 so almost 10 years um it was just like heel shafted one right yeah yeah a lot of to hang um so I have I had ton of Arc in my stroke and that’s a little bit of what we were trying to get rid of to just kind of make me a little more consistent um so I was very sad to say goodbye to Old trusty but I got the spider in now and and uh it’s obviously been great for the last month so I’m excited for for the feature with that but the rest of the stuff yeah you nailed it um kind of have a mix of the bag I used to be all tidalist um but I I dropped my club contract about two years ago now um which I think is kind of becoming a trend on tour um you know there’s just not not as much money in the club contracts as there used to be um unless you’re obviously you know one of the the top top guys and so and there’s and you know with all the changes that have happened with Liv and stuff the with the purses being so high it just it doesn’t make as much sense sense to be locked into just one thing um you can make a lot more money on the course than with your Club contract so a lot of guys have just kind of gone to more of an open bag and and uh it really has been nice just to get to you know try everything that comes out try everything new um and just see what is the best for me what what I’m gonna play the best with so yeah I was going to say because obviously we’ve seen a lot of players go away from you know being sponsored by a single brand how many dudes do you really think there are out on tour that like legitimately don’t love every Club in their bag but are just playing their clubs because that’s who sponsors them or do you think that at this point dudes like you said are just going completely away from the club contract um because they see results with other clubs yeah no I mean I think I think there’s a lot of lot of guys out there who are probably in a club contract that you know they’re they’re overall very happy um and and really all of all of the club manufacturers are great um but I’m sure all of those guys you know have one or two clubs in their bag that they can’t quite figure out um and it’s frustrating and and so yeah I think a lot of guys are are making that move um and it’s mostly just the the manufacturers the club contracts are in my point of view a little outdated and and they’re a little strict um with the amount of clubs they make you play so I do think as more more guys start to do what I’ve done and and go to more of an open bag uh that maybe the club companies will start to adjust and you know because back in the day they used to do okay we’ll just do a driver deal uh or we’ll just do a irons and now most of them you’re not really going to get a contract that’s that’s worth anything unless you’re doing at least 10 or 11 clubs plus driver so um that’s that’s pretty strict to only have two or three clubs a leeway when there’s you know there’s so much competition out there so yeah I I think uh they’ll be a lot of change uh coming with that what uh what kind of ball are you playing now so I play um this ball called the Titus uh prov1 left dot uh essentially what Titus does if if enough guys continue to play a pass model of a ball they kind of just make it a new ball so you’ll hear stuff like you know the uh prov1x Dash or there’s I think there’s you know probably like 14 or 15 different balls out there now but my ball is essentially the 2013 prov1 and enough guys just kept playing it that they just made it a new ball um so my ball it’s basically the lowest launch lowest spin ball that they have um and I just I I love it around the greens it’s still really soft around the greens but it’s by far the best ball I’ve ever played uh in the wind um and so for me I you know I I don’t have a ton of tough time spinning the ball um if anything I can get a little too spinny sometimes so so it’s it’s just the perfect ball for me dude so I I have heard about that where I remember it was maybe like seven or eight years ago I think Nick Watney was still playing like the 2007 prov1 um those ones that you probably remember like in high school or whatever that the you’d wear off the cover in nine holes like you could just Bas wipe the cover off but they performed like crazy and I remember hearing that and being like how does that work so if enough guys want to play a certain ball the manufacturer will just like reint uce that ball yeah basically if enough guys just don’t switch then they just kind of Rebrand it um as a new ball so there’s yeah there’s probably like seven or eight different types of Prov ons being played out there and and probably equal amount prov1 X’s um so you know like provy ones there’s the I don’t know all the names mine’s the left dot which is essentially the 2013 um but I know that there’s the 17 and the 19 and the 21 are all still being played out there um and I just switched to the left Dash and so I don’t know exactly what that is I just it feels it it performs well for my level of game so that’s uh that’s their low spin High launch ball so that that is uh you know I would recommend that to a lot of people I think most am should probably be in the in the X ball not the prov1 um just because the X launch is a little higher which in my opinion for most AMS with you know less Club head speeded than the majority of guys on tour have uh you know getting a little more height and just getting it up in the air a little easier um is is the best so like my my family always struggles because my Ball’s so low launch and so low spin that you know they always I have extra balls and like do you want any but then I’m giving them to like my you know my dad who’s you know he’s getting older and and doesn’t have quite the same Club head speed and he can’t get my ball off the ground and I’m like yeah I know I’m sorry he might he might just I’ll buy you something for Christmas but you might just have to splurge on some x’s because this Ball’s not good for you that’s a perfect way for nobody to ask you for your golf balls is just play a golf no nobody else can hit well yeah exactly that didn’t Titleist a few years ago they threw everybody off because they flip-flopped the the prov1 and the X what because the X used to be like the lower like the the lower spinning lower launch and then didn’t they change that yeah just over time with with their stuff they they crisscrossed I not really sure what the logic behind that was um and I don’t even know if they did it on purpose I think it was just kind of how the technology evolved um but yeah so now now the uh now the X usually spins a little more than the the v um obviously the V still it’s got a softer uh shell or casing so it spins more around the greens but um with full swing that spends more talk about a hell of a marketing plan you just flipflop you just put a different for name on a product and flipflop two items and then you just resell them that sounds like a good deal yeah no I mean t Titleist knows what they’re doing both both in terms of their their marketing and and being as successful as a company as as they are but obviously they’re you know it’s not it’s not for nothing they have the best ball in the world no question that that is a fact that’s why you see that titlist logo next to like every player on the pga2 or leaderboard no matter what clubs or anything else they’re playing it’s insane yeah yeah it’s fun that um so we play that Zurich Classic every year um and the team event uh and that’s like always one of the biggest things is is which ball everybody’s going to play um and it is it is fun getting to try you know other people’s balls who don’t play Titleist um and you know there’s a few out there that I I definitely like and I feel like I could play but it the week after is always like so sweet to get to come back to my ball and just be like okay this is this is the one yeah you got you played with Ryan brem right and you guys were like either in a playoff or pretty close to a playoff correct yeah we we missed a playoff by one unfortunately but yeah it was it was a super fun week so so with a Zurich like how walk us through the process of like how you pick Partners like is it like getting a homecoming date like is there somebody left out out in the cold that’s like you know got to go find somebody on the street all relatively speaking but um how is that process process work like you ask a buddy and he’s like oh I’m already playing with him and then you ask somebody else and like how hard is it to find a partner yeah I mean me me and Ryan have played a couple years he’s one of my best friends out there so we just kind of have a a longstanding agreement that if we’re both on tour we’re going to be playing together um our wives are best friends and we just have an awesome week and I feel like our games really compliment each other but there’s lots of different strategies um you know some guys like playing with someone who plays the same ball as them and plays the same sort of game some guys like me I like playing with someone who plays kind of a different game than me like he’s a he’s a bomber um so I feel like we can take advantage of of some of the longer holes that I normally wouldn’t be able to um so I kind of like that contrast but yeah in terms of finding a partner you know there’s a lot you can just ask um there’s a lot of uh guys who just kind of pair up based on their agencies um their agents will just kind of get them together or reach out to people and say I think you’d be a good fit and then to your point there are I won’t mention any names but yeah there are a few guys that that get left out and uh you know end up like cold calling people and and trying to find a partner or um I even had one of my buddies uh he his partner kind of switched up on him last minute took like a a better partner um so he he was kind of out out in the weeds as as an alternate trying to fill in uh find a fill in for the week so yeah it it is kind of a funny like you said homecoming type of deal yeah dude I’d be pissed if I got left hot and dry like and that’s the thing is that like you said you and Ryan like agreed that you’ll always as long as you’re both on tour but like if one of you wins a major and then all of a sudden like Rory’s like hey let’s partner up for the you know for the Zurich do you guys have an out like is there is there any asteris in your in your teammate situation are you asking me and my partner we have a hall pass list is that what exactly do you somebody else asks you you got and you’re like I can’t say no to this guy yeah we haven’t talked about it but we probably should I mean if if T if tiger called brem up I wouldn’t I wouldn’t be sad if he left me 100% you just got to let him uh let him go there well so you said he’s one of your best buddies on tour who are your other like best friends and do you travel with really anybody I mean obviously the schedule’s tough um you know who’s playing what events but who are your like best buddies out there and who do you like seeing week in week out yeah so Ryan uh and his wife we stay together a decent amount you there’s definitely you know it’s kind of clicky out there and people have their their people that they travel with and and stay in airbnbs with um so it’s it’s the Brams and then we stay with The Damons a lot Joel and his wife Lana are super close especially they have a young kid now too who’s about the same age as our youngest um so it’s nice to stay with them sometimes um Harry higs and me have the same coach so we’ve gotten closer over the last couple years so that’s that’s kind of my crew and yeah I mean you don’t travel travel together you’re all you know we live in different places and um you know you’re on different flights but you do try and split some airbnbs just to make it feel less lonely out there and and you play practice rounds together and um yeah you get your little group and it it seems less less like a uh you know a lonely Mission by yourself out there it it sucks you know when you’re by yourself just staying in hotel room every every week so forming that little Community out there is really important and especially now that we have kids you know our kids go to tour school together and and they’re gonna end up growing up together and and it’ll be really fun watching them you know so very awesome um so there are a few guys on tour you don’t have to say the names clearly but like you see you’re paired up with them you’re like oh [ __ ] this is this is not going to be fun how many guys are there like that 10 20 h no I I would definitely say less than 20 probably less than 10 to be honest there’s there’s definitely a few um it’s probably you know different for everybody who who those few are um there’s probably a couple crossovers for sure but uh I think you’d actually be surprised how uh few few deags there are out there for the most part everybody gets along I I think it goes back to that same thing like it’s so lonely that it’s just kind of like to try and to be a dag and isolate yourself even more it’s just like it’s a hard life like it’s a great life it’s super fun but um it does become a little bit of a community out there a little bit of a family out there because as much as we’re all trying to beat each other every week like it’s the people we see every single day for our whole year so um you know nobody really wants to make it miserable and and be that guy so for the most part everybody’s been been really great out there that’s awesome well I got one last thing for you and then we’ll let you get out of here so I saw your recent tweet uh quote one of the most frustrating things is typing in Knuckles or pounded to try to get the knuckle only to remember AI is still catching up or worse a sneaky little robot freak and I related to that because I type what I want to say for an emoji too and sometimes I’ll send it I’ll be like have a good day smile and I send that and I’m like oh you look like such an [ __ ] by the way that emoji is fist so yeah I know fist well that’s why I was saying that’s why it’s that’s ai’s a little freak he’s trying to uh anyway but yeah the uh the uh the edit button on the text has been been clutch because I do that too like sometimes you’ll type something and it won’t come up with the Emoji you just send the word or even worse it’ll come with up with the Emoji and the words so you say smile and then you have the smile and you’re just like come on like what do we we can yeah so I got one last question rank your your Denver fandom in in regards to Broncos nuggets ABS Rockies what order if one team had to win a championship who would it be it’s Broncos I I love all of my Colorado teams but I absolutely bleed orange and blue so um yeah it’s it’s you know I think probably number two would probably be the ABS just because I I overall think I like the NHL a lot more than the NBA I find I love the Nuggets I love Joker and Murray and and all our guys but I I find the NBA as a whole tough to watch these days um whereas I love hockey um I love playoff hockey so I think the ABS would probably be two and and and Nuggets three and then our poor Rockies will probably never be good because we can’t get any pitching because nobody wants to go get lit up at corfield um so that’ll probably be the order but yeah I mean the Broncos would be up here and then the ABS down here and everybody close like it’s it’s it’s not really even close I love the Broncos if you uh if you get rich enough can you just buy the Rockies so the merss don’t have to own them anymore and then you can change the whole organization yeah I mean I don’t know what the answer is do we like do we have to wreck cor field and and make the the walls a little deeper I mean that’s the tough part is it’s one of the best ballparks in America so it’s like you don’t want to change it but at the same time you know nobody want we’re never goingon to get an ace to come out and pitch for us so if you don’t have pitching you’re not gonna win 100 per. yeah well Mark appreciate it man thanks for the time good luck this week at the US open at Pinehurst we’ll be we’ll be watching every shot uh and hope you come home with like top 10 or a win you know win the US Open Back toback Colorado kids we’d love to see that we we appreciate your time and and you take the time to talk to us today hell yeah thanks for having me great to meet you guys we’ll have to do this again absolutely awesome thanks Mark appreciate you no worries [Music] [Applause]
