Why Did Grant Horvat Decide To Not Play In A PGA Tour Event?

A number of recognized names are teeing it up at the Barracuda Championship this week but, one of those who won't be present is YouTube star, Grant Horvat.

Possessing 1.4 million subscribers on the platform, as well as millions on social media, Horvat was set to tee it up in the alternate PGA Tour event on Thursday but, just 48 hours before the tournament's start, he revealed he would not feature as he wasn't allowed to film at the competition.

First sharing the news that he was offered a sponsor's invitation into the event during a video on his channel alongside World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, Horvat posted a tweet and video on Tuesday explaining the situation.

In the post, it read: "Unfortunately I will not be playing in a PGA Tour event. The rules and regulations around PGA Tour tournament play will not allow us to film.

"The only reason I was in the position to receive an invitation like this is because of YouTube and you all watching the videos, so if I’m going to play, we want to film it. I am hopeful that this won’t always be the case. I would be honored to play in a PGA Tour event and bring you all along in the future."

You may wonder why Horvat was unable to film and post content to his channel when playing the Barracuda Championship. Well, the simple answer is media rights.

The PGA Tour has multiple television deals worldwide and, consequently, the TV partners are the ones paying for the coverage.

What's more, the circuit owns the rights to all of its digital and archival footage and PGA Tour players do not own the media rights to their performances, which is why the Tour doesn't allow creators to post non-sanctioned videos on social media.

One last point is that, in the PGA Tour's Player Handbook and Regulations, specifically 'Mobile and Electronic Device Policy for Contestants and Caddies', it prohibits those from capturing content on devices.

In the paragraph 'During Official Competition,' it states: "During a competition round players are prohibited from using a mobile device for all communication purposes (voice calls, text, email, etc.), data services, or for capturing content."

Golf Monthly have approached PGA Tour for further comment.

Horvat's decision created huge discussion on social media with plenty of golf fans criticizing both him and the PGA Tour.

It prompted Wesley Bryan, who is suspended by the PGA Tour for competing alongside Horvat in LIV Golf's 'The Duels' franchise, to ask golf writers to "stay away from YouTube golf."

"Dear Traditional golf media/writers: Stay away from YouTube golf. What y’all are doing to Grant Horvat is a joke."

He later apologized.

Horvat's response to fans questioning his decision to turn the invite down was simple. "This platform is a wild place," he tweeted.

The YouTuber's doubles partner Phil Mickelson has been a staunch critic of the PGA Tour's media rights through the years, especially during the rise of the LIV Golf League in 2022.

Speaking in February of that year, Mickelson stated: "It’s not public knowledge, all that goes on. But the players don’t have access to their own media. If the Tour wanted to end any threat (from the LIV Golf League or anywhere else), they could just hand back the media rights to the players.

"They would rather throw $25 million here and $40 million there than give back the roughly $20 billion in digital assets they control. Or give up access to the $50-plus million they make every year on their own media channel."

Getting underway on Thursday, the modified-Stableford format Barracuda Championship features some big names from the world of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

Among those are six-time PGA Tour winner Max Homa, as well as Cameron Champ, last week's ISCO Championship winner William Mouw, Adam Hadwin, Joel Dahmen and Ewen Ferguson.

What social media said about Grant Horvat turning down PGA Tour invite