The PGA Tour’s creator circuit is teeing off

Golf creators are due for a big year in 2025 — as long as they can make the cut.

The PGA Tour has announced that it will host three creator-centric tournaments across the upcoming calendar year. After going live with its inaugural Creator Classic in 2024, the world’s preeminent golf organization (sorry not sorry, LIV) is tripling its output of influencer overtures.

The first Creator Classic took place at the PGA’s Tour Championship last August. That pairing will return in 2025, and the PGA will add Classics adjacent to its Players Championship and Truist Championship. As a result, more than 20 golf influencers will get chances to compete against their fellow creators at events in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Jacksonville.

The PGA’s efforts to connect with the rising crop of golf influencers have been multifaceted. The establishment of a Creator Council — which features some of the top names in YouTube’s golf scene — allowed the North American organization to get crucial advice as it reaches out to younger golf fans.

The Creator Classic, won in its first year by pro Luke Kwon, is one of those outreach efforts. As the influencer tournament scales up for its second year, established golf channels are concocting ideas that will bring novelty to the event series.

The stars of Good Good, a popular channel that has hosted its own creator golf tourneys, want the PGA Tour to inject more excitement into its influencer-facing proceedings. Good Good Co-Founder Garrett Clark told The Guardian that the first iteration of the Creator Classic “missed what made us special.” Good Good Creative Producer Max Putnam suggested that the PGA Tour can “bring more personality” to the tournament by adding touches like a “Cart Cam” and miced-up players.

The broadcast details for the upcoming trio of Creator Classics suggest that the PGA Tour will heed Good Good’s advice and turn its new series into a spectacle. YouTube, ESPN+, and Peacock will serve as distributors for the 2025 Creator Classic slate.

But even with some powerful broadcast partners signed on, will the Creator Classic be able to outdo efforts by independent creators? Grant Horvat recently got more than one million YouTube views in a single day by collaborating with the biggest name in golf: Tiger Woods.

At the Players Championship in March, we’ll learn how the PGA Tour’s creator-led efforts stack up against videos like these. The Creator Classic would definitely level up if Tiger Woods was on the player list, but the 49-year-old legend may need to launch his own YouTube channel first.