Kyle Stanley is off to a hot start in Blaine, Minn., while Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson try to bounce back from tough outings at the Memorial.
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JACKSON, Miss. – Mark Hubbard borrowed his longtime friend Max Homa’s caddie, Joe Greiner, for two weeks in fall 2020. They had a good vibe, and Hubbard was asked if he would ever consider employing Greiner full-time. “My brother was like, ‘Why wouldn’t Joe ever come caddie for you full-time?’ and I’m like, ‘Look, Max’s ceiling is so freaking high,’” Hubbard explained. “I know I’m good, but Max has potential to do all this stuff. “Not that I don’t see myself as a really good golfer, but I don’t think I’m ever going to be No. 1 in the world. I don’t have the length, and frankly, I don’t think I have the discipline enough. I like the rest of my life too much to practice that much and grind that much.” Hubbard is one of the TOUR’s free spirits, a throwback who doesn’t take himself or the game too seriously. He enjoys his down time, skiing, having a few beers with buddies. On the course, he’ll mix in the ‘snail’ putting method – wrapping the right arm over the shaft, and then looping the right pinky finger back under – to keep fans guessing. Hubbard also has plenty of game, the ample blend of talent and work ethic to make 163 career PGA TOUR starts, in addition to 91 Korn Ferry Tour appearances. Hubbard has won on the Korn Ferry Tour but not yet on the PGA TOUR; his best showing is a runner-up at the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open in fall 2019. That could change this week in Mississippi. The 33-year-old has opened the Sanderson Farms Championship in rounds of 67-69, firmly in the mix through two rounds at the Country Club of Jackson. True to form, Hubbard has shown a willingness to experiment in his process. After about four or five holes Thursday, he decided to abstain from using his own read on putts. His caddie Kyle Peters proceeded to make every read, and they made eight birdies in the final 13 holes on day one. “My caddie’s green-reading,” Hubbard said Thursday when asked the key to his round. “I just do not see the greens, which is interesting because they’re similar to the grass I see at home in Houston. “I think this is the first time ever (completely deferring on putts). I like to be very instinctual with my putting and just go with my first read. I probably bring him in on three or four putts a day, maybe; a tough week would be 10. For him to read pretty much every one today, that was big for us.” Hubbard is no stranger to an audible on the fly. He began the 2021-22 PGA TOUR season on conditional status, having finished No. 143 on the 2021 FedExCup standings. It meant a split schedule between the PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour, a year of monitoring alternate lists and staying prepared to change a flight on a moment’s notice. Rather than allowing the uncertainty to distract him, Hubbard thrived. He went T13-third-fourth in consecutive weeks in July to cement his spot in the FedExCup Playoffs, and he begins this season as a full TOUR member, no strings attached. The free spirit can play with even more freedom, as he eyes his first TOUR title. “I want to be the best version of myself, and for me, when golf becomes too much of a priority, the rest of my life suffers and I’m just not happy,” Hubbard said. “It is kind of that balance for me of finding how much do I grind and practice, because I do love it and I do care and I do want to be really good. There are times where it is kind of a means to an end, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that; I think I can still go out and win tournaments. I think I can still go out and win this weekend without killing myself over it and still go skiing and having beers with my buddies and whatever. “Maybe I’m wrong about that, but I think that’s why I’ve played well the years that I’ve played well out here, is because I’ve had the best balance for myself.” Hubbard’s attitude resonates with his peers, as evidenced by the scene around his post-round press conference Friday in Mississippi. Chris Stroud called over to proclaim Hubbard a “top-five player in the world,” and Chesson Hadley added a playful greeting. When asked how he’ll prepare for managing his emotions down the stretch, Hubbard noted he has listened to a variety of Homa’s podcasts and other conversations – “he’s someone who I think has struggled mentally in the past and has really turned it around, and now I feel like that’s one of my strengths,” he said Friday. The Denver native aims to channel that positive energy in chase of the Sanderson Farms Championship’s famed Reveille the Rooster trophy. If he falls just short, life will go on. He’ll do his best, though, to give it a run. “All that aside about the balance, this is absolutely my dream job,” Hubbard said. “I love the travel. I’ve got a really good group of friends out here. All of our wives get along. My wife is great; I’ve got an awesome little kid, another one on the way. I really couldn’t ask for anything more. “Anytime you can be in contention, that’s why we practice, that’s why we get up. Even though it’s not always my No. 1 priority, it’s a huge, huge part of my life, and I couldn’t be happier and more grateful that I’m out here.”
ERIN, Wis. — Sergio Garcia was decked out in green Tuesday, as he set out for his first U.S. Open practice round at Erin Hills. Yes, Garcia wears the title of Masters champion quite well. A weight was lifted when he finally captured the major title that eluded him for all those years. What he’s done in the past does not guarantee success, adulation or even happiness in the future, though. Nobody has learned that lesson in a more public fashion than Garcia himself. Of his dozens of close calls, failures and embarrassments, a few have come at the U.S. Open — the “torture chamber” of a major, as 1993 PGA champion Paul Azinger called it — a tournament that often brings out the worst in people. “It’s tough to win, and majors are even tougher,” Garcia said. “And the U.S. Open, we all know how difficult they are.” Unlike his effervescent introduction to the majors — when he hit the shot from the base of the tree, then ran up the fairway during the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah — Garcia’s first week in genuine contention at a U.S. Open was a sordid, awkward affair. It was 15 years ago, back in the day of the waggle, when the Spaniard’s pre-shot routine involved dozens of hard-to-watch, back-and-forth motions with his hands as he tried to position himself to swing. He was playing in New York, going against Tiger Woods in the final round. He had complained bitterly earlier in the week about how everything always seemed to be set up to benefit Woods, who was then at the peak of his powers. Not surprisingly, the overserved fans at Bethpage Black let Garcia have it, heckling him at almost every turn. On Saturday, after someone shouted out “Waggle Boy” during Garcia’s backswing, he pointed to the crowd and challenged the heckler to “be brave” and say it again. It was neither the first, nor the last time he had exacerbated these showdowns with fans. Garcia wilted in the final round and the showdown with Woods turned out to be something much less. Garcia finished fourth, and though it marked the first of five top-10 finishes he’s had at the U.S. Open, it formed a bad second impression that Garcia had trouble altering, especially in the U.S., over the next decade. Time changes things. Winning does, too. “I felt, and I’ve always said that I felt, like everywhere in the world, and here in the U.S., the fans have always treated me amazingly well,” Garcia said. He was, indeed, the fan favorite as he walked around Augusta National two months ago, dueling with Justin Rose over the final day and eventually coming out on top in a playoff. Once portrayed as the boy who would not become a man, either in golf or in life, Garcia is, at 37, all grown up — handling the pressure better, on the verge of getting married and, yes, now a major champion. Rose, who already had his major, the 2013 U.S. Open, conceded on the day he finished second that if he had to lose, best it be to someone like Garcia, a friend and Ryder Cup teammate for years. He echoed that thought Tuesday. “You think of Sergio Garcia going through his career without a major championship, it would’ve been kind of sad,” Rose said. These days, it’s mostly smiles. Asked if he had two words to describe his strategy for this week, where Erin Hills is expected to play every bit as long and brutal as advertised, Garcia said: “patience” and “commitment.” Pressed to explain the second part, Garcia said, “it’s just a matter of believing.” Much easier for him to do so now, especially with that green jacket hanging back at home.
Golf is one of the most-underrated sports to bet on. The race for the Claret Jug this year at The Open Championship feels completely up for grabs. There are favorites like Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, and Jordan Spieth that you can expect to be in the running come Sunday, but when gambling, the real money comes from the long shots. With odds as high as 125/1, you only have to bet a little to win a lot if you have a keen eye for a winner. There’s a ton of ways to bet golf — you can bet on players to make the cut, in head-to-head matchups against other golfers, and to finish within the top 20, as well as numerous other options depending on the flexibility of your bookmaker. But the easiest way
