Grant Horvat Will Regret Declining PGA Tour Invite

I am a huge fan of Grant Horvat.

We have him at No. 2 in our YouTube golf channel rankings for 2025, and we have been plenty complimentary of his content. His videos are, without a doubt, some of the best watches in all of golf at the moment.

But everyone makes mistakes—and Horvat just made one he’ll regret.

Turning down an invite

The PGA Tour has an opposite-field event called the Barracuda Championship. It’s being played this week at the same time as the Open Championship. It’s an event only die-hard golf fans will watch. The field is made up of veterans and Korn Ferry Tour players. TV ratings will be minimal.

In an effort to boost numbers for an otherwise irrelevant tournament, the Tour invited Horvat to play.

Horvat is a very good player, although it’s likely he would miss the cut by a wide margin when going up against world-class golfers. The real reason for his invite is that he would be bringing attention to the tournament through his own fan base (he has 1.38 million subscribers on YouTube).

As I wrote in April, I thought Horvat should have accepted the invite.

Tour events like this one have unrestricted sponsor exemptions at their disposal and they often use them to make a splash to increase exposure. It’s an entertainment product. Adding a few intriguing guys to a field helps everyone involved make money.

Tournaments have been doing it for ages. John Daly took more than his fair share of sponsor invites because fans wanted to see him play, even long after his heyday. It’s a part of pro golf culture that should continue for these types of events (although I argue that signature events should do away with them to maintain a meritocracy among the “star” tournaments).

Horvat was not taking away a spot from someone. He had every right to play. And it would have been a positive for golf if he chose to tee it up.

How positive? It would have at least been a conversation starter. It would have brought some of his audience into the Tour coverage—and some of those viewers may have been exposed to Tour golf for the first time.

On a broader scale, it would have signified the Tour’s willingness to lean even harder into YouTube golf and the reasons that platform is successful. It could have been a stepping stone on pro golf’s path to valuing what the fans want.

I definitely want to see someone like Horvat play. I’m curious what he would shoot. I want to see the nerves of someone in his position. And the content around it would be very interesting.

But content is why Horvat declined to play

In a tweet and video, Horvat said he chose not to play in the Barracuda because he would not be able to record video of his rounds.

“Unfortunately I will not be playing in a PGA Tour event,” Horvat wrote. “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 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. Huge thank you to the Barracuda for the invite and belief in YouTube golf.”

He later replied to a tweet saying it would only be one person filming, from outside the ropes.

“Last thing I would want to do is distract the players,” he wrote.

The Tour has a strict contract to protect its media rights. That is largely what drives the value of its $700 million per year TV contract. Nobody can record (officially) except TV partners.

While working for another publication, I once posted a video of a practice round ceremony at a Tour event in November. After I got back to the media center, someone from the Tour tapped me on the shoulder to say that if the post wasn’t taken down immediately, my credential would be revoked.

Practice round rules have since been relaxed, but you get the idea—the Tour fiercely defends its media rights because a lot of money is involved. Content around the events is limited. A lot of media outlets skip covering Tour events because there isn’t much that can be done (contrast that with a tour like the LPGA, which is very welcoming on the content front).

We can debate the merits of the TV contract. We can laugh at how thousands of fans get to record in-tournament video and post all over social media. We can say the Tour is idiotic for signing such a restrictive deal. I would largely agree with you.

But that is the contract. It runs through 2030. I highly doubt it will be changed soon.

Horvat can’t film. Even with one guy shooting from outside the ropes, which would likely have no impact on his playing partners.

Media rights aside, should he be able to record? Yeah, definitely. But he can’t, so it’s a moot point until that contract changes.

Horvat got some bad advice on this

It’s his right to decline the invite because he can’t film, but it wasn’t in Horvat’s best interest to go that route.

By declining for that reason, it seems like Horvat isn’t playing solely because he can’t monetize the event.

That might not be true—but it’s a bad look either way.

Golf fans want to see how he would stack up. How would a very good plus-handicap golfer measure against Tour pros when the spotlight shines bright?

He could have said, “My game isn’t ready for this.” Or that he wants to play in more pro events before jumping into the deep end (he recently played a Korn Ferry Tour event with a partner and was not allowed to show the pro’s swing). Understandable.

Or he could have just played without making content. He probably would have factored into some TV coverage on Golf Channel (there is no PGA Tour Live coverage for this tournament, so we would not have been able to see shot-by-shot streaming).

Horvat has built a brand on being a good dude. He seems wholesome and genuine.

Right or wrong, the reasoning for the decision makes him seem a little soulless. That’s a harsh word I normally wouldn’t use to describe Horvat, but it’s how I felt.

Of course, it’s his right to run a business and make money. No fault there. Tour pros don’t compete for charity.

But this is a Tour event! Anyone with his skill level would kill for the chance to have that experience. He would be expected to miss the cut by a wide margin. Just go out and play for the joy of it. Doing that would probably make him more money in the long run, anyway.

The way he declined made it sound like the business element trumps the experience element.

I think, ultimately, he will regret this. It’s an unnecessary PR hit and could change how his audience sees him.

What do you think? Do you put fault on the Tour or Horvat? Neither? Both? Don’t care?

Let me know below in the comments.