PGA Tour pro Michael Kim has called for the US circuit's bosses to "wake up" and produce more with golf-content creators on YouTube in order to engage with the sport's younger audience.
The past few years has witnessed a significant boom in the world of golf on social media - and YouTube in particular - with the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Good Good Golf, and Grant Horvat among multiple groups or personalities thriving as young fans latch on to their thoroughly entertaining content.
Earlier this week, Horvat announced he was publishing a video with 15-time Major champion, Tiger Woods, set to be released on Tuesday and expected to garner millions of views within the first 48 hours.
DeChambeau's video with US President Donald Trump brought in around six million views inside two days last summer (it now stands at almost 13 million views) while a recent 18-hole match between Xander Schauffele and the Bob Does Sports crew secured almost half-a-million views inside 24 hours.
For context against TV, 2.7 million people tuned in to watch Scottie Scheffler bring home the Tour Championship at East Lake back in August. Those numbers were down on the year before by roughly 13% - a trend that was all but a constant throughout 2024, even at Majors.
Pgatour needs to wake up and lean way more into creative content on YouTube. That’s how the younger generation are watching golf and other sports. https://t.co/Ic3kMSHav6January 6, 2025
As a result, PGA Tour pro Kim believes more must be done by Jay Monahan and co. to ensure a generation of fans who are largely consuming media on phones and tablets are catered for.
Sharing Horvat's post on X which revealed the content creator's video with Woods was to drop at midday (ET) on Tuesday, January 7, Kim said: "PGA Tour needs to wake up and lean way more into creative content on YouTube. That’s how the younger generation are watching golf and other sports."
Kim's opinion resulted in plenty of reaction online, with the overwhelming majority of respondents agreeing with the 2018 John Deere Classic champion.
One fan replied to suggest that the PGA Tour's TV broadcasts might even benefit from bringing YouTubers into the booth during tournament days, but Kim pointed out that just because they are perfectly entertaining in a video, that doesn't necessarily guarantee the same would be true on live TV.
Kim said: "Do you know why YT personalities are so fun? Cuz they edit out all the boring parts haha. Can’t do that in a live broadcast."
Do you know why YT personalities are so fun? Cuz they edit out all the boring parts haha. Can’t do that in a live broadcastJanuary 6, 2025
At the time of writing, the PGA Tour YouTube channel has 1.52 million subscribers, less than Bryson DeChambeau (1.67m), Good Good Golf (1.72m), and Rick Shiels Golf (2.93m) but more than the DP World Tour (500,000) and LIV Golf League (376,000).
In an effort to increase their engagement among its more YouTube-focussed audience, the PGA Tour has taken multiple steps in recent months - one being the launch of the Creator Classic in the build-up to the Tour Championship last August and another being the birth of a Creator Council.
A 10-person group - which includes Bob Does Sports, Bryan Bros Golf, Erik Anders Lang, Fore Play/Barstool Sports, No Laying Up, Paige Spiranac, Roger Steele and Tisha Alyn - has been comprised to help the PGA Tour's media, marketing and communications staff members understand and develop shared strategies for content development and fan engagement.
Moving forward, they plan to try and improve on potential future iterations of the Creator Classic as well as discussing how to give fans more of what they want while consequently enhancing the PGA Tour's events and broadcasts.
The Creator Council is set to meet for the first time this month and then reconvene once per month throughout the year.
In a release from the PGA Tour announcing the news, the circuit's chief marketing and communications officer/investor relations, Andy Weitz said: “The combined creative engines behind the Council and Tour will help strengthen and grow our collective relationship with the vibrant community of fans who love to engage with golf and the PGA Tour through social media."
