Grant Horvat is Being Used as a Chess Piece in PGA TOUR-LIV Golf Drama

If someone tries to tell you that YouTube Golf is not a major reason the game has notability amongst more people, and that it has no influence on the growth we’ve seen over the past few years, just tell them they’re wrong.

YouTube Golf has only been around since COVID, really, and yet, in the five years since it truly started, it has caused more disruption in the game than anything, arguably.

As the PGA TOUR and LIV Golf continue to iron out whatever it is that is going on with the two of them, it is evident that YouTube Golf’s biggest star, Grant Horvat, is being used as a chess piece in their big game.

Aside from Horvat’s partnership with Phil Mickelson, one of LIV’s original members, he has more recently been used as a way to pull in viewers and potentially send a message to the other side. It started with the LIV Golf Duels.

In Miami, LIV paired up one YouTuber with one LIV Golfer, and the names included people like Bob Does Sports, The Bryan Bros., and Horvat, who played in a partnership with one player over the course of 18 holes.

As a result, the PGA TOUR suspended Wesley Bryan for his participation in the event. What did Horvat get? An invitation to the Barracuda, where he could play on TOUR for the first time.

PGA TOUR Invites a YouTube Golf Sensation to Play a Tournament

If the TOUR had any kind of consistency in this matter, it would not be inviting Horvat to play in one of its tournaments while suspending another player who has played on TOUR, and won, in the past.

Horvat is the major pull in the YouTube Golf space right now, and has been for the last year or so. LIV wants him, and the TOUR does too, and his TOUR invitation came after the LIV Golf Duels and Bryan's suspension.

If anything, one of the leagues is attempting to have something the other does not: a fan favorite that has incredible draw and a solid fan base behind him. Whichever tour can lock up Horvat would likely lock up a lot of interest from both youth and adults who watch him. 

He is a major piece to the strategy of each tour, as both have gone full-steam ahead with embracing the YouTube space.