Would YouTube Star Grant Horvat Accept A Sponsor's Invite To A PGA Tour Event? The Answer Is Complicated...

YouTube star, Grant Horvat admits he has mixed feelings over whether he would accept a sponsor's invite to a PGA Tour event should one ever be offered.

Horvat recently won the Creator Classic at TPC Sawgrass - held over the Stadium Course's back nine the day before The Players Championship - in largely convincing fashion, shooting one-over through eight holes before making birdie in the playoff on 17 to defeat Soly from No Laying Up and George Bryan VI, brother of PGA Tour pro, Wesley.

The 26-year-old has also played against many of the world's best on his YouTube channel and is regularly competitive, leading to calls from fans for Horvat to enquire about the possibility of teeing it up at a PGA Tour event one day.

Fellow content creators Luke Kwon, Mac Boucher and Tae-Wook Koh - a.k.a. Taco Golf - appeared on the Asian Tour towards the end of last season, with Kwon making several more pro starts since.

But, speaking to Dan Rapaport's 'Dan On Golf Show' following his pre-Players success, Horvat admitted he was unsure if he has what it takes to actually compete among the stress and intensity of a legitimate PGA Tour competition.

Asked by Rapaport for his hypothetical reaction if a tournament was to call the YouTuber up and tell him he had a sponsor's exemption spot available, Horvat replied: "I've thought about that. I don't know right now. I'd have to look within myself and I have to really see if I want to put myself back in one of those situations.

"But, yeah, I don't know. I think that's the answer I have. I truly don't know what I would do. I think, right now, I just love doing YouTube videos. The Creator Classic happened and that was awesome - I never expected to win it. But it definitely showed me a little something, I will say, it kinda fired me up a little bit after I made that putt to win it.

"That felt really good versus kinda lagging that putt up there and tapping it in for par and [hoping] Soly misses. I made that putt and it fired me up a little bit, but I don't know."

Once "an average D2 player" at Palm Beach Atlantic University, Horvat realized a career in pro golf might not be possible and ventured into content creation on social media, instead.

In the years since his immensely popular channel began, the 26-year-old has played in a PGA Tour qualifying event ahead of the Myrtle Beach Classic as well as a couple of mini-tour competitions around his home in Florida. Horvat was recently involved in the first edition of the Creator Cup during the week of the Tour Championship, too.

While supporters of allowing content creators into pro events say that it brings extra eyeballs to the sport and detractors arguing it takes a spot away from a deserving pro, Horvat admitted his reservations around possibly turning an invite boil down to his ability compared to those on tour.

He said: "There's a big difference between me and the pros. A huge, huge difference. And I think people need to realize that.

"There are a lot of people who do realize that but then there are a lot who think that I could be out there [on tour]. The reality is that there's a huge gap between me and the tour pros - it's giant."