YouTube golf is taking over. Will the PGA Tour 'like and subscribe'? (2024)

Breaking the fourth wall has become Bryson DeChambeau’s specialty.

DeChambeau stood on the fifth tee box at Pinehurst No. 2 during last month’s U.S. Open, tossing a Titleist ProV1X in one hand and clutching a protein bar in the other, chowing it down in alarmingly large bites. He paced around, his gaze shifting aimlessly as he waited to roast a driver down the fairway.

Then DeChambeau did something peculiar. Staring directly into the camera tracking his every move, he co*cked his head, and gave a thumbs-up, acknowledging the distant and invisible U.S. Open TV viewers. In shattering the conventional player-fan barrier, he created a moment that instantly went viral.

In competition, the best players are programmed to pretend like nobody’s watching them. Tune out the noise, they say. Eyes on the prize. We have a job to do. For DeChambeau, things are different. That wasn’t just the future winner of the 124th U.S. Open giving a goofy smirk and hand gesture to a live audience, that was a 30-year-old YouTube star acting on his instincts.

The two worlds don’t converge often. But when they do, the impact is usually evident. DeChambeau has just been the latest — and most victorious — example of a real-life crossover episode between YouTube and live-action sports. There’s a whole contingent of golf fans out there who just want to be entertained, and DeChambeau scratches that itch for his 800,000 subscribers. He’s garnered almost 90 million career views on the platform, and his results in golf’s mainstream are making the growing trend all the more apparent.

Look beyond the divided professional golf landscape. There’s unlimited free content on an open platform, where creators have formed subcultures around the sport. You can choose between the PGA Tour and LIV and bear through commercial-clogged broadcast windows. But you can also dip into the world of tightly edited matches with players who run the gamut from major champions to bogey golfers, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Some might say it’s a niche corner of the internet, but a two-time major winner has found his place at the center of it. So has a college dropout who rallied an empire of teenagers through trick-shot videos. And a pair of South Carolinian brothers. Mid-handicappers. Self-made teaching pros. Equipment gurus. Their paths are all vastly different. But their coalescence has launched a content machine and a movement of eyeballs that can’t be stopped: In the last 90 days alone, there have been more than 4.3 billion views of golf videos on the platform, according to data provided by YouTube.

This is YouTube Golf: It’s taking over. Whether pro golf likes it or not.

For the past four years, Callaway has worked with Dick’s Sporting Goods and Golf Galaxy to produce a Father’s Day commercial. The spot once featured Phil Mickelson. Then came Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele, who read from a teleprompter, promising a free driver to those who correctly predicted the U.S. Open winner.

This year, five 20-something-year-old men in six-inch inseam golf shorts and patterned polos were the stars.

Standing in a parking lot, the group whispers in anticipation and points at the retail store. In the distance, a Dick’s Sports Goods employee unveils this season’s golf equipment promotion — and it’s a steal. Quadruple points! The young men yell and whoop. They sprint through the department store’s automatic double doors as if they’re celebrating a hole-in-one.

Meet Good Good Golf: YouTube Golf’s rotating cast of best friends who, according to Callaway CMO Nick McInally, contributed to the most successful Dick’s Sporting Goods Father’s Day campaign in the brand’s history. “They delivered the biggest results we’ve ever had,” McInally says, “They brought a youthful energy, and it exceeded both ours and Dick’s Sporting Goods’ expectations.”

Good Good, started in August 2020 by 24-year-old Kansas City native Garrett Clark, brings in 15 million to 20 million monthly views on its main YouTube channel. The name refers to the exchange between two golfers conceding equal-length putts in a match (Good? Good.). It’s a group of seven content creators, some scratch players, others mid-handicappers, who play against each other and invent challenges. They have 1.6 million subscribers, and some of them buy out Good Good’s logoed merchandise almost instantly.

You used to see kids walking around professional golf tournaments sporting Rickie Fowler’s orange Puma flat brim. Now that same generation, and the one younger than it, is showing up decked out in their favorite YouTuber’s custom gear. Many of them wear caps embroidered with four recognizable capital letters: G-O-O-D.

On the eve of February’s WM Phoenix Open, Clark sat in a golf cart next to his former Good Good peer Grant Horvat, who left the group to pursue a solo YouTube channel in December 2022. Although they operate separately now, Clark and Horvat sweep the unwritten YouTube checklist of star-worthy attributes: youthful, affable and blessed with an innately silky golf swing. They made waves by reuniting for the inaugural Good Good Desert Open, a 14-hole tournament for golf influencers hosted the night before the PGA Tour’s rowdiest and most unorthodox event. Played at Grass Clippings, a fully-lit 18-hole course in Phoenix, the exhibition earned a streaming slot on Peaco*ck. Camera crews and NBC commentators were hired to give it the full tournament treatment.

“Garrett and I were one of the featured groups, and we looked down at his phone at one point and there were 100,000 live viewers,” Horvat recalls. “Three thousand people showed up on site and sold out the event. That’s a ton of people. It was mind-blowing.”

The event was a novelty — no one knew what to expect. But according to Good Good CEO Matt Kendrick, the Desert Open brought in 800,000 total live viewers — better than the last two installments of “The Match,” an annual primetime exhibition series with pro golfers and high-profile athletes, including Rory McIlroy and Steph Curry. The YouTube community shows up.

The son of a PGA teaching professional, Horvat grew up curious about the golf swing and eager to help others improve their craft. He started on TikTok, posting instructional videos, and eventually branched out into YouTube, where Good Good scooped him up. Horvat was part of the channel’s 2021 breakthrough moment. During a filmed match, Matt Sharf made a hole-in-one on a 290-yard par 4. The video has more than 5 million views and is still pinned to the top of their channel with the title, “The Greatest Golf Shot in YouTube History.” Clips from the stunning hole-out made ESPN’s SportsCenter and morning news segments across the country. Good Good wasn’t just a band of Gen-Z golf addicts posting sporadic videos. They were content creators making headlines and influencing an industry.

Now Horvat’s channel ranks in the top five within the YouTube golf community out of hundreds, and he films regularly with a mix of celebrities and top players, like F1’s Carlos Sainz and the LPGA world No. 1 Nelly Korda. He visits major championship venues with the Bryan Bros — Wesley and George, the former a PGA Tour winner — to see if they can “make the cut.” At 25, Horvat is sponsored by TaylorMade and backs a clothing startup. When Horvat played a match against Rahm at the latter’s home course in Scottsdale, the 2023 Masters champion greeted Horvat on the range by reciting a quote from one of his oldest videos.

“I’m a fan, I told you,” Rahm, 29, says after another surprising reference to Horvat’s channel. “I like golf in every aspect.”

There’s something about watching golf on YouTube that’s becoming a new normal, particularly for young viewers, who use the platform more than they use any other social media site. According to a Pew Research Center study, 93 percent of teens use YouTube compared to 63 percent who said they use TikTok, the second-most used social media app. Short-form content draws social media users in momentarily, but these YouTubers — particularly in the golf space — have viewers who will tune in for videos up to two hours long.

“There’s this misnomer that young people won’t turn on sports content on the big screen and watch it,” says Jon Cruz, YouTube’s Global Head of Sports Partnerships. “We’ve seen this across golf, the NFL, and the NBA — it’s simply not true. They just want to engage on their terms. If they have the right relationship with the sport or creator, they will sit there and watch.”

YouTube is accessible. It’s vast. But it’s also personable and real. Horvat and the Good Good guys talk viewers through every shot of their round, and GoPro “cart cams” document their conversations in between holes. Other popular golf YouTubers employ a similar format, such as instructor Rick Shiels, Barstool’s “Fore Play” and mini-tour player Hailey Ostrom. Channels such as No Laying Up, Iona Stephen’s “On the Road with Iona,” and Erik Anders Lang’s “Random Golf Club” utilize travel vlogs to take viewers along for off-the-beaten-path golf trips.

If golf on YouTube began with Masters highlights, quick-fix swing tips and putter reviews, now it can take you to Australia or the Netherlands. Or to a random course in America as Bobby Fairways and Fat Perez of the comedy group “Bob Does Sports” execute their signature “cheeseburger challenge”: consume four burgers and shave off a stroke from your team’s scorecard.

“I’m not the typical lanky 6-foot-4 golfer, but I somehow find a way,” Perez says.

Regardless of the presentation, the cameras are never ignored on YouTube. They’re part of the story. You are part of the story.

“I think what makes YouTube Golf so powerful is that people feel like they have a connection to us,” Horvat says. “They get to see our lives and they get to feel like they’re part of the journey.”

The interpersonal nature of YouTube aligns perfectly with golf — a recreational sport that boomed during the pandemic, as humans craved social interaction. Successful creators establish a bond with a subset of the YouTube community, and they work to strengthen it.

That’s why Titleist signed No Laying Up, Callaway partnered with Good Good and both Horvat and Barstool are with TaylorMade. Every equipment giant has a stable of influencers. The golf manufacturers no longer focus solely on tracking up-and-coming players to sponsor. They’re also on the lookout for the game’s next internet sensation.

“These influencers are no longer a niche,” McInally says. “If you want to reach an audience of fanatical golfers and communicate your brand, they’re arguably just as important as what’s happening on tour.”

YouTubers have found a way to lure in a generation that loves golf. Maybe even more so than the professional golf product that’s supposed to represent the pinnacle of the sport.

“I would say that professional golf is missing that part more than anything,” Horvat says. “And to be honest, they’re not open to a lot of change.”

The PGA Tour has been trying.

Inspired by F1’s “Drive to Survive,” Netflix launched “Full Swing” in 2023 to show behind-the-scenes narratives around pro golf. Around the same time, CBS introduced walk-and-talk interviews with players during PGA Tour broadcasts. An indoor simulator golf league called TGL is set to begin next year with Monday-night primetime matches and mic’d-up players.

The PGA Tour’s efforts to modernize took on a new sense of urgency in the face of the LIV Golf threat, which fractured the sport in two. It’s been more than a year since a framework agreement was signed to stop the litigation between LIV and the PGA Tour and reunite the game. Negotiations surrounding how to do that are ongoing, with no end in sight. TV ratings are down, even for the Masters. Title sponsors are dropping out from the PGA Tour.

The ever-changing patterns in how people consume content — particularly young people — could lead to a declining interest in the professional game. According to a recent internal YouTube trend report, 66 percent of Gen Z Americans agree that they often spend more time watching content that “discusses or unpacks” something than “the thing itself.” A cultural evolution isn’t the PGA Tour’s issue to solve. But leadership can’t carry on resisting it, relying on weekend afternoon network broadcast windows to do the heavy lifting in telling its story.

The medium that could help is being held at arm’s length — the premises of the tour’s media rights contracts view YouTubers as the broadcast’s competition. And according to creators, it is deeply limiting pro golf’s growth. Horvat can film a nine-hole PGA Tour pro-am with Jason Day but only show Day’s ball landing on the green — to protect CBS’s, NBC’s and ESPN’s contractual rights and intellectual property, even though the footage is unlikely to ever be broadcast.

Or top YouTubers can invite any number of professional golfers to film with them, where any benefits to the tour are ancillary. “Full Swing,” “The Match” and TGL represent a concerted effort. But in reality, the tour has generated ideas in conference rooms and they’re failing to captivate Gen Z to the scale that YouTube does.

“‘Full Swing’ is a good idea, but it feels very produced,” Perez says. “What we do doesn’t feel like a movie or documentary. It’s authentic content that really shows off the personalities of these guys.”

Other sports leagues are steadily figuring it out: In 2023, the NFL and YouTube launched an “Access Pass Program,” which unlocked archival game footage for creators to use freely in their videos.

“More leagues are beginning to understand that when you can partner with creators and use them to tap into audiences, there’s aggregate growth out there,” Cruz says.

Cross-channel collaborations are key for YouTube golfers. Creators never fight over viewership, because within the same corner of the platform, another channel’s success only bodes well for their own. The PGA Tour could benefit from the same mindset when it comes to media rights — YouTube and the networks could peacefully coexist and uplift each other. But that would require a major adjustment to the tour’s contractual DNA. (LIV Golf is not bound to the same contractual restrictions but its lack of visibility continues to be a problem.)

The PGA Tour creates a natural level of suspense every week by crowning a tournament winner. But simply lifting a trophy isn’t winning over fans like it used to. In 2024, there’s a growing contingent of viewers who expect more. Especially the ones used to internet personalities making their subscribers feel like they’re part of a tight-knit friend group.

Wesley and George Bryan stand in the middle of both worlds. The brothers are watching the reach of the Bryan Bros channel grow by the day, while the staying power of the professional golf product remains static and in flux. “We have a journey that people are following,” Wesley says. “People only have so many hours of their days to consume content. There are tens of millions of people that watch golf. We know that we’re getting those people every week, and we’re not even in the top 10 of YouTube golf views.”

There are ways to integrate the YouTube golf model into the professional game, in a manner that doesn’t hinder the players from honing their craft. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler isn’t going to become a weekly vlogger. Schauffele is not a great candidate to become one, either. Players are competing for millions each week, with history and legacy on the line. But many younger athletes grew up watching YouTube, and others are beginning to acknowledge what authentic, personality-driven content can do for their brands. Three years ago most pros would scoff at the prospect of appearing as a guest of Bob Does Sports or even the Bryan Bros. Now the tides are shifting. Players such as Max Homa, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth have embraced the opportunity, and the interest from others is only growing.

“A lot of players want to do things like this,” George Bryan says. “It doesn’t take much time if you do it right. Lean on the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday practice rounds. Put their personalities out there and make long-form content. Instagram is great, but people are just swiping past those.”

Why isn’t this trend igniting a content movement in the space? Because pro golf’s self-imposed obstacles remain: media rights, a denial of modern consumption trends and a debilitating fracture in the sport are preventing the PGA Tour from saving its product. It no longer has Tiger Woods to fall back on.

Golf’s needle-movers look different now. Millennials and Gen-Zers are finding their golf heroes and role models through new mediums — ones where the fan comes first. What will it take for the professional game to realize it?

DeChambeau had one goal when he posted his first video on YouTube three years ago, titled “A Week on Tour.” He wanted to reinvent his public persona.

“I knew what my image looked like,” DeChambeau says. “There were times when I had to put on a facade on the golf course just to match that narrative. And I’m like, man, this is just not me.”

Once considered a cringe-worthy character who spent too much time bulking up in the gym and manically perfecting the physics of his swing, DeChambeau dug himself a hole around the time of his first major championship (the 2020 U.S. Open) but has climbed out.

He utilized the free-rein format of YouTube to showcase the behind-the-curtain version of himself and foster a relationship with his audience. You can give your subscribers as much or as little as you want on YouTube. DeChambeau, who joined LIV in a reported $125 million deal in 2022, opened up to the internet, and it worked.

He once became enraged at a cameraman for watching as he, DeChambeau, climbed into a bunker during a tournament round. Now he hosts a series called “Break 50,” in which the major champion invites a guest onto his channel to attempt to shoot a sub-50 score from the forward tees. He filmed a one-club challenge with Sergio Garcia and a nine-hole duel with Phil Mickelson. Good Good’s Clark challenged him to a match, only DeChambeau had to play with 1930s-era hickory golf clubs. He showed up in knee-high socks and suspenders and shot even par.

“YouTube has allowed me to express who I am,” DeChambeau says. “I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone.”

DeChambeau’s YouTube-fueled rebrand went mainstream during a Sunday battle against McIlroy at the U.S. Open, the crowd relishing his showmanship. The broadcast drew a peak viewership of 11.4 million, the highest since the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. McIlroy’s late-round collapse was gripping and deeply relatable. And DeChambeau’s gravitational pull created a spectacle that became must-see TV.

DeChambeau gets it. After accepting the U.S. Open trophy during a winner’s ceremony on Pinehurst’s 18th green, DeChambeau ran around with his new piece of hardware, determined to let his fans touch it. He wanted the Pinehurst crowds to feel like they were a piece of his victory.

The acknowledgment of the fan and viewer — the destruction of that outdated fourth wall — is what makes a modern needle-mover. DeChambeau learned how to take on that role away from professional golf.

The traditional golf industry might be aware of what’s going on. But it hasn’t quite accepted the future.

How much longer can it go without making a change?

(Photo illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Photos: Warren Little, Raj Mehta / Getty Images. Courtesy Good Good and Bob Does Sports)