HYPOCRITES: PGA Tour Incentives Social Media, But Pulls Down Viral Post

A little over a month ago, the PGA Tour announced that it would be offering a $40 million “Player Impact” bonus to be split among 10 golfers who “recognize and reward players who positively move the needle” by generating coverage for the sport, with the top dog standing to receive $8 million from the pot.

Why? Well, my guess is that the PGA Tour continues to struggle with attracting a younger audience who spends most of their time (you guessed it) on various social media apps, such as Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, etc.

Despite this HUGE push to increase the Tour’s presence on these platforms, it appears that the Tour forgot to include the fine print on what was and wasn’t acceptable.

In what became the second most popular golf video on Twitter, the PGA Tour ripped down the now infamous interview video of Brooks Koepka being interviewed, which has racked up more than 10 million views in the ~48 hours it was up.

It goes without saying that the Koepka-DeChambeau rivalry is the BEST thing for the PGA Tour right now, as social media has lit up with a Christmas tree with posts playing up the feud, including Dave Portnoy from Barstool asking Bryson to caddie for him in his match against Koepka (who’ll be playing lefty) and Goat Hill Park suggesting the 2 go “mano y mano” in a charitable match with persimmons.

Lesss gooooooo! (Will stock Michelob and creatine prior to game day). 🐐

— Goat Hill Park (@goathillpark) May 26, 2021

Bottom line, it’s a tad hypocritical of the PGA Tour to put $40 million up for grabs and then (absent a valid explanation) take down a video that was destined for the moon and had garnered contributions by other golfers on the Tour, like Phil:

I feel like I’m in the middle of something and should step aside. (Except they want the CURRENT PGA champ:)

— Phil Mickelson (@PhilMickelson) May 26, 2021

Cover Image via Instagram