Is Grant Horvat The One To Watch On YouTube?

No one in the YouTube golf space is on the run that Grant Horvat has been on over the past few months.  And for good reason.

His channel hit one million subscribers last month (captured here in a sweet moment on his socials). He’s an official part-owner and content partner of Takomo Golf (along with the Bryan Bros.) and his TaylorMade contract (he games their woods and balls) has given him access to TM’s entire lineup of A-list stars. 

He’s wasted no time getting those stars on his channel. Tiger Woods recently gave Grant a fairway wood/driver lesson and Rory McIlroy showed him what a speed training session looks like. 

One could argue that since his breakaway from Good Good, Horvat’s content has continually gotten better. He and his team have a clear idea of what makes him so likeable and watchable: he’s genuine. 

Whomever his guest is—whether it’s four junior golfers or fellow YouTube stars (Bob Does Sports, The Bryan Bros, Rick Shiels, etc.)—they’re treated with the same respect and aw-shucks sincerity he’s always had.

He’s a guy you’d want to get paired up with for any tourney, not because he crushes the ball or because he’s going to keep buying you shots of Fireball but because you’re pretty sure you’re going to walk away with a friend.  

And the PGA Tour and LIV are starting to take notice.

A quick look at his main page will show you videos with Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, a recurring series with Phil Mickelson and the aforementioned video with Tiger which is nearing two million views.   

But his video with McIlroy, nearing a million views, feels like something truly special. It speaks to why I believe Horvat will soon overtake the likes of Rick Shiels (a recent addition to LIV) and Good Good to become the most influential content creator in the space.

His guests are very, very busy people and you’ve got to believe their “down time” must feel incredibly precious. Yet, here they all are, sparing a few minutes to share some knowledge and getting to reach a sometimes considerably wider audience than they would get on Tour. 

If you haven’t seen the Mcilroy video, it’s a pretty straightforward concept: Horvat gets McIroy to hit a few drives on camera and to give him a bit of a speed lesson.

It was simple in concept but perfect in execution.  

McIlroy absolutely smashes drives, hitting ball speeds over 190 mph. Then Horvat takes a few swings, reaching absolutely pathetic numbers of 175 mph (hopefully the sarcasm came through there—reaching 175 mph ball speed is an absolute dream for most amateur golfers in the world).

This is where Horvat really shines. He knows he’s not a pro—he never ever pretends to be. He’s humble, arguably to a fault (“I’m not fast,” he says at the beginning of the video. Meanwhile, the author of this piece is thrilled to hit 104 mph).

But here’s the best part about the video: You can see McIlroy is having fun. Horvat manages to bring out the best in these guys and, to be fair, he brings out the best in virtually everyone who comes on his channel. 

He gives people space to be themselves, asks insightful questions and really listens when they answer. He’s not just asking them stuff he already knows in order to make himself look good.