Brother of PGA Tour pro reveals golfer is playing through serious heart condition

PGA Tour golfer Mark Hubbard teed up at the Travelers Championship despite a significant heart condition, according to his brother.

Nathan Hubbard said his brother began experiencing symptoms during the Memorial Tournament three weeks ago.

After his second round, Hubbard was taken to hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with cardiomyopathy, a disease that affects the heart muscle and can impair its ability to pump blood effectively.

He later withdrew from U.S. Open final qualifying and was also forced to pull out of the RBC Canadian Open.

"He'd had a flu-like virus for a few days," Nathan wrote on X. "He'd felt winded and his heart was racing.

"After his Friday round [at the Memorial] the tour doctors sent him to the ER and thank God for that.

"He was in the middle of a cardio myopathy. He was hospitalised 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."

Hubbard returned to competition last week at the 2026 Travelers Championship wearing a device that records data to help his doctors determine the next steps in his recovery.

Nathan said he shared his brother's story because he believed it illustrated the meritocratic nature of the PGA Tour.

"He currently sits 98th in FedEx Cup points," he wrote. "There are six more events left in the season.

"The top 100 guys keep their card, and the top 70 guys automatically get into all the big events next year. He's right on the bubble.

"He has no contract, no salary. His wife and daughters basically only eat if he plays well, makes the cut (and therefore makes money).

"There's not a doctor on the planet who would tell him to play this week.

"But, this tournament has no cut. So he will earn a few points no matter what happens this week.

"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. Some - including some golfers on tour - think this is unfair."

Nathan described his brother as one of the tour's ultimate grinders.

"He's had an abnormally long career, and he's a top 10 earner of all time on tour without a win.

"He will forever hold the record for most events played in a single season. The definition of an all-time grinder.

"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.

"Players deal w/this intense psychological pressure in different ways.

"Scottie subjugates golf to his faith and family so he doesn't care too much.

"Tiger seems to have punished his body to the point of compartmentalizing using substances to numb the pain. Golfers run the gamut.

"But only in golf is it you vs the game. Highly skilled guys cannot become pros because they cannot handle the mental side of it.

"You must take complete ownership of your failures, and most humans simply can't do that. That's the beauty of the sport."

Nathan argued that while the no-cut format gave his brother the chance to earn valuable FedEx Cup points despite not being fully fit, it also reinforced his belief that merit-based qualification remains central to professional golf.

"So the cut, and the meritocracy, are EVERYTHING in determining who is great at golf," he added. "Without them, it's a game, not a sport.

"And look - if my brother was putting his life completely at risk he wouldn't play, and he could enter the (really challenging) program for players with major medical issues.

"But this is the only sport where a player with his condition would even be out there this week.

"And tomorrow he tees off with @JordanSpieth early in the morning, just trying to survive and get a few more points.

"He earned it. That's entertainment! It freaking matters so much.

"Golfers aren't tough guys physically, but the best ones are as tough or tougher mentally than any other athlete.

"It's why so many of them are so damn weird (sorry but true). ALL of it is due to the fact that you only eat what you kill.

"It creates a cascading set of decisions and consequences big and small, one of which is @HomelessHubbs this week.

"He's only out there because there's no cut! So: Long live the cut, and long live the meritocracy."