The divide between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf seems impossible to bridge, largely due to stalled merger talks and the Tour’s practice of banning any golfer who associates with the Saudi-backed league. This situation began earlier this month when the Tour threatened six content creators with sanctions for competing in LIV Golf’s The Duels. However, they withdrew their stance on all but Wesley Bryan after facing pushback. Now, Bryan is dealing with an indefinite ban, despite his promise to fight against the decision. While the Tour has received immense backlash for its practice of banning golf content creators, a recent report suggests a lot is happening at the PGA Tour.
Recently, the PGA Tour announced the field for its upcoming Creator Classic event for the Truist Championship, which will feature a lineup of eight content creators and four celebrities. However, fans quickly noticed the absence of several notable names, particularly popular YouTube celebrities. According to a fan, the second Creator Classic event of this season, scheduled for May 7, will not include Grant Horvat or Luke Kwon, the defending champions of The Duels. Frustrated by the treatment of Wesley Bryan, fans flocked to the post to express their concerns. In response to the controversy, Flushing It Golf took matters into its own hands to clarify the situation.
According to Flushing It Golf, the organizers invited Luke Kwon to the next Creator Classic; however, he declined the offer. Kwon refused to participate due to the event’s format. This was also true for many other participants from The Duels. In contrast, Grant Horvat is enjoying a much better situation than Wesley Bryan. After competing in The Duels, the star YouTuber received a sponsor’s invitation to play in the Barracuda Championship. Despite the clarification, confusion around the Tour’s rules remains, with fans questioning “why the Tour is banning one golfer but not others?”
Luke Kwon was invited, but he declined. As were other influencers involved in The Duels
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) April 22, 2025
According to Monday Q Info, the Tour put Bryan on probation the day after LIV Golf announced The Duels event and officially suspended him the day after the video aired. Wesley Bryan, who plans to fight against the Tour’s decision, couldn’t help but point out a glaring issue with the Tour’s rules. “From my perspective, the rule in question wasn’t written with YouTube content creation in mind. It was intended for high-level, organised, professional events. That’s why I feel this situation deserves a fair review,” Bryan said in a recent YouTube video.
Bryan also received support from Phil Mickelson, who called out to Department of Justice to look into the matter. We have not yet received updates from the creators or the Tour itself; however, despite these stars absence, the second Creator Classic of the season will also feature a sudden-death playoff.
How will the second Creator Classic of the season look at the Truist Championship?
The Truist Championship will feature a team event on May 7, which the PGA Tour will broadcast on its YouTube channel and other platforms. The competition will take place at The Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course, where eight prominent golfers will team up with four well-known YouTube creators. The roster will compete in the Creator Classic at Philly Cricket, experiencing the same course conditions as the professionals.
The competition among them will be just as challenging as the course itself. The event will consist of four teams of three, with each team made up of one YouTube creator and two golf creators, playing in an alternate-shot format on holes 10-17. The top two teams will then advance to a playoff on the 18th hole. While organizers will announce the groupings and tee times a day before the event, fans have plenty of star power to look forward to, despite the absence of some major golf content personalities.
The event will feature notable participants, including Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag, tech influencer Marques Brownlee, Tyler Toney from Dude Perfect, and Josh Richards from the “BFFs” podcast. They will be joined by returning golf content creators Paige Spiranac, Brad Dalke, Josh Kelley, and Matt Scharff. Will you be watching this PGA Tour event?
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