It’s the week of the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta, GA. Before a PGA Tour season winner can be crowned, the first Creator Classic took place on Wednesday afternoon. This 9-hole stroke play event featured 16 of the world’s most famous golf influencers. But these influencers aren’t just content creators, they can also really play.
However, they faced a very difficult challenge. They were playing the back nine of the newly renovated East Lake Golf Club, the same holes that the professionals will play starting Thursday.
A number of PGA Tour pros were skeptical about the influencers’ abilities, prompting one of them to call out Especially Rory McIlroy.
“Rory McIlroy has publicly stated that he did not believe anyone would break 40 today,” said Roger Steele Jr., one of the participants, before his round.
“I try to challenge Rory effortlessly. That’s my goal, and then I go to him and say, ‘I heard what you said and I didn’t like it. Look at my scorecard.'”
The PGA Tour released a video on Tuesday in which some professionals expressed their expectations.
“They will undoubtedly have their hands full,” said Xander Schauffele. Viktor Hovland also agreed and doubted that they would live up to the standards of the PGA Tour.
Byeong Hun even went so far as to say, “There’s no chance they’ll break even, for sure…nobody’s going to play nine holes under par. If that’s the case, they should be on the tour.”
As it turned out, four of the 16 players on the back nine were under par. Steele Jr., with his hot putter, was one of them.
Ultimately, Luke Kwon defeated Steele Jr., Wesley Bryan and Sean Walsh in a playoff to win the title, but that is far less important than the spectacle that unfolded in East Lake.
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At its peak, there were over 110,000 live viewers on YouTube. The event was also streamed live on Peacock and ESPN+.
“The response from fans and content creators themselves has been overwhelming,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said Wednesday.
The landscape in the world of professional golf is changing. Early Wednesday, Monahan held his annual end-of-season press conference, outlining upcoming initiatives set to take effect in 2025. The influence of social media and the growing number of young golfers have prompted the tour to make changes and infuse the sport with influencers.
At this point you either board the train or stay at the station.
