Is The PGA Tour Trying To Tempt Bryson DeChambeau Back With Reported New Social Media Policy?
A report from Front Office Sports has revealed the PGA Tour is set to alter its social-media policy, a move of potential interest for one of LIV's biggest stars
If you're a PGA Tour pro who enjoys sharing as much golf content as possible on your social-media channels then these could well be exciting times.
Previously, golfers would only be allowed to post up to two minutes of video created on site during competitions days and just one shot from a tournament's broadcast footage once the TV window had finished.
Pros were also not allowed to share more than five minutes of extensive highlights (per video) from TV coverage on their channels 72 hours after an event had ended. In terms of their YouTube channels, the maximum time limit for archive-footage highlights was 60 minutes.
However, FOS says the PGA Tour's social-media policy - which was first introduced in 2017 but has been tweaked multiple times since - is set to undergo its biggest change since 2021.
After reportedly working on the policy for much of the past year, updates were shared at a Player Advisory Council fans subcommittee meeting ahead of the Truist Championship on Tuesday.
FOS claims the new-look guidelines - which were overseen by the likes of Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas, Max Homa, Harris English, Camilo Villegas, and Korn Ferry Tour member James Nicholas - will be formalized later this month.
The alterations include players now being able to post three minutes of video created on site during competitions days while PGA Tour pros are also set to have the option of sharing as many as six shots per round - totaling up to a minute of highlights - after a day's play.
The five-minute limit per video relating to extensive highlights should be increased to eight minutes from the end of May while the maximum time limit in terms of a highlights package on YouTube is believed to have been capped at two hours.
And, as before, there is no limit on how much on-site content - created by a player or his team - can be published during non-competition days.
Golf Monthly approached the PGA Tour for comment on the subject, to which a spokesperson replied: “The PGA Tour strives to provide the most athlete-friendly social media guidelines in professional sports, in order to equip our players as they engage and grow their individuals brands – and the PGA Tour’s fanbase – while protecting the TOUR’s commercial business for the benefit of the entire membership.”
News of this potential modification from the PGA Tour arrives in the same week as Bryson DeChambeau echoed comments he made in January about wanting to explore YouTube golf even further if LIV was to fall by the wayside.
At the start of the year, DeChambeau told FOS it was "an incredibly viable option" for him to focus only on YouTube Golf either side of playing the four men's Majors.
He said: "Doing the course record series, and playing Break 50s, it does keep me quite dialed in for tournament golf. That is why I do it right before competition. So, it’s a possibility.
"The financial opportunities are there, and I’m excited to see what comes in the future.”
And then, ahead of LIV Golf Virginia, the two-time Major winner reiterated a similar line during his pre-tournament press conference.
DeChambeau said: “I think, from my perspective, I'd love to grow my YouTube channel three times, maybe even more. I would love to.
"I'd love to do a bunch of dubbing in different languages, giving the world more reason to watch YouTube. And then I'd love to play tournaments that want me."
DeChambeau isn't the only star name with a YouTube presence, however. Jason Day has over 200,000 subscribers on his 'The Lads' channel while Tommy Fleetwood is able to boast close to 140,000 on his.
In addition, Min Woo Lee is famed for his social media presence and has almost 1 million Instagram followers.
DeChambeau remains king of the social-media space, though, with over 2.7 million YouTube subscribers and 4.5 million Instagram followers to date.
