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“ Surreal ” is the way Stubbe describes it . One day , he ’ s at a desk in Virginia , plowing through accounting work . Less than a year later , he ’ s sipping on a beer and driving Homa around in a cart in the Arizona desert .
“ It ’ s the easiest job that any of us have ever had ,” Stubbe said . “ I ’ m Nick Stubbe being Fat Perez being Nick Stubbe . There ’ s no acting . It just ends up as it ends up . All the fireworks end up as they do . None of that is scripted . None of us are actors . If it was scripted , it would be so obvious . We play rounds of golf without the camera , and it ’ s just as ridiculous . Sometimes more ridiculous . It ’ s great .”
✘ OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND
When Stubbe first joined the Bob Does Sports crew in January 2022 in Las Vegas , he had about 5,000 followers on Instagram (@ thefatperez ). By December , he had more than 130,000 . The video of the Homa match drew nearly 750,000 views . To say that Bob Does Sports — and by extension Fat Perez — is a phenomenon is no exaggeration .
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Stubbe ’ s newfound celebrity has allowed him to develop a line of merchandise , which is sold at fatperez . com , including hats , hoodies , ball marks , towels and more . His bio : “ Fat Perez is a real beaut . Known as ‘ The Most Comfortable Man in Golf ,” don ’ t sleep on his game as this absolute unit will take your money on the course before you know what hit you .”
There is one obvious question yet unanswered : Has Fat Perez met Pat Perez ? As of last November , the answer was no . But Stubbe is more than open to the possibility .
“ His wife has liked some of the stuff that I ’ ve posted , and I did a podcast with his brother ,” Stubbe said . “ I don ’ t know if Pat watches that . … I ’ ve never reached out to him . But I kind of feel like it will happen . I guess my desire is that it happens organically , like at a bar or something , or over a round of golf .
“ People ask for that collab all the time . To be fair , it would be hilarious . I picture caddying for him in a pro-am , and how ridiculous that would be .”
Stubbe is pragmatic about where this adventure may be headed in the future . When asked where he sees the channel going in the short and long terms , he pauses .
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Stubbe keeps an eye on the future but admits the whole team is just “ enjoying the moment .”
“ I think we are — for good or bad — really enjoying the moment ,” Stubbe said . “ We haven ’ t had too many high-level discussions about what the future holds . We ’ re having fun . We don ’ t want to get ahead of our skis at all . … It ’ s so early . They ’ ve only been doing this for about a year , and for me , it ’ s only been about four months . … I ’ ve always been a goals guy , seeing things in black and white . But it ’ s such a wild , wild west still that it ’ s hard to see where we ’ ll be in six months . We can just hope to keep growing our audience and making new content … and sort of entrench ourselves in the world of golf where we can show a side of the game that isn ’ t always all serious .”
As he packs his golf clubs in his car before leaving Keswick after playing a few holes , Stubbe is stopped in the club ’ s parking lot .
“ Yo , FP ! Can I get a selfie ?” one man asks enthusiastically . Perez happily obliges . It ’ s part of the gig , and he ’ ll ride the wave as long as he can .
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PAUL PIERCE JR .
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