RBC CANADIAN OPEN

June 10, 2023

Mark Hubbard

Oakdale Golf & Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Obviously a premier grouping in the spotlight and you handled yourself well. Can you comment on your round today?

MARK HUBBARD: Yeah, I would like to start with a beef. On the ESPN app they had a nice picture of Rory and they had me one-handing, hanging one out to the right all upset. So I need a new photo pic when I'm in the feature pairing. It was a fun day. I was pretty tired. I've been through a tough stretch and been in contention, some tough courses to walk, and we had the 36 holes on Monday. So didn't get off to a great start. But I think, honestly, having that energy with Rory kind of helped me stay in the round and kind of lift me up.

Q. So you turned the spotlight into positive energy instead of basically letting it get to you.

MARK HUBBARD: Yeah. I mean, I said this before, look, I'm out here for me, I'm out here for my family. So I'm not too concerned who I'm playing with or whether the crowds chanting for Rory or me. But definitely there definitely comes a buzz when you're around a guy like that. And the amount of fans up here all the time are great. Canada loves their golf. But to be in that pairing, yeah, it definitely gave me a little extra energy.

Q. Speaking of fans and applause, on 14 you kind of just let it ride out there with the fans. Was that something you had in your head that you were going to let them do it?

MARK HUBBARD: No, it was in the moment because honestly it was so loud. On 13 it was loud. They were cheering for the group ahead. And then they were chanting, We want Rory, while he was making his 30-foot bomb. It was so loud. We got up there and then I watched Rory hit and it went dead silent. And I'm like, I don't want that. That like sounds way more nerve wracking than everybody just yelling. So I was like, keep it going, I don't want the silence and the voices in my head. Let's amp it up.

Q. You got a chance to win a PGA TOUR event tomorrow. How do you compartmentalize kind of your prep and everything into tomorrow?

MARK HUBBARD: Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to change anything. I've been playing so good, I just got to keep relying on my putter and hopefully I make it a little easier on myself tomorrow. But I just I'm ready for an off week, man. It's been quite the stretch. I mean, Mexico is easy, but long. Quail is hard. PGA is the hardest course I've ever played. Contention at Colonial. Contention at Memorial, hardest walk all year, tough course. I'm ready for just an infinite nap. So really tomorrow is just going to be mustering everything I have left in the tank and knowing that I have a nice week off.

Q. The proximity of the fans being so close on 14, how does it compare to other crazy holes and with how close they are?

MARK HUBBARD: Yeah, Rory and Harry were joking, we're all glad that they're not that close in Arizona. Because they would get really unruly. But, man, it's fun. As loud as it is and crazy as it is, the fans for the most part were really respectful and great. And I've always said this, the golf season's short up here. So they really love and appreciate their golf and, yeah, it was awesome.