PGA Tour pro Mark Hubbard featured at the Travelers Championship while dealing with a significant health issue. His brother, Nathan, later revealed the extent of what the golfer had been battling behind the scenes in recent weeks.

Three weeks ago, Hubbard started experiencing symptoms during the Memorial Tournament. After the second round, he was admitted to a hospital and was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.

"He was in the middle of a cardiomyopathy. He was hospitalized in Columbus for four days. Withdrew from US Open qualifying (where he’d been a medalist in the past two years). Tried to play Canada but no doctor would approve it and he couldn’t really swing so he had to WD,” Nathan wrote in his X post.

Hubbard suffered from chest pains, the flu, and a racing heart while competing at Muirfield, but despite multiple withdrawals, he returned at TPC River Highlands wearing a monitoring device that records data to help his doctors determine the next steps in his recovery.

Nathan also pointed out why taking a break was not an option for the pro golfer.

"He is playing at about 50% of his actual capacity as an athlete to try to keep his job and, at the end of the season, the difference between the guy who finishes 100 and 101 is sometimes a single point - he will earn more than that for last place this week. Every single shot, every single point matters to his family,” Nathan wrote.

Hubbard is currently positioned 99th in the FedEx Cup rankings. With only a few events remaining this season, he needs to compete as much as possible to keep his PGA Tour card.

The Travelers Championship, being a Signature Event, has a no-cut format, and therefore, Hubbard will take home a few vital points no matter how he performs.

Nathan further elaborated on what makes the PGA Tour great.

Nathan on what makes golf great

Golf may not be the most physically demanding sport, but its mental side has often been praised by athletes from different sports.

"What makes golf and - by virtue of the direction the @PGATOUR took this week - the tour great, is that it is the only sport in the world where everything is because of you. It’s all your glory, and all your fault. No teammates, no opponents on the other side,” Nathan wrote.

According to him, players have their own ways of dealing with the immense psychological burden, as he continued in the thread.

Hubbard’s mental resilience was certainly on display at the Travelers Championship as he competed with such a complicated health condition.

What are your thoughts on Nathan’s statements? Share them in the comments.

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Written by

Avishek Sarkar

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav