Grant Horvat has found himself in the spotlight in recent times, with the YouTuber winning the Creator Classic ahead of the Players Championship.
Horvat dedicated his win to Rory McIlroy, who then went on to win the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
McIlroy tied with J.J. Spaun on 12-under after four rounds at the Ponte Vedra Beach course, before beating him in a three-hole playoff.
The pair took on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes at TPC Sawgrass, with Spaun coming under fire for checking McIlroy’s bag before finding the water on the iconic island green.
Horvat meanwhile was among 10 content creators to play the back nine before the PGA Tour event got underway, with the YouTuber emerging victorious.
Grant Horvat unsure if he would accept PGA Tour sponsor exemption
He has since appeared on the Dan on Golf podcast, where Dan Rapaport said to him: “I feel like the next step for you is… we’ve seen this with Luke Kwon, he’s gotten invites into tournaments that he’s played.
“If a PGA Tour event called you up and said, Hey, we want to give you a sponsor invite, what would your reaction be?”
In response, Horvat said: “I’ve thought about that. I don’t know right now, I don’t know. I have to look within myself, and I have to really see if I want to put myself back in one of those situations.
“But no… I don’t know, yeah, like I said, 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, and 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, like kind of fired me up a little bit after I made that putt to win it, and that felt really good, versus like, kind of lagging that putt up there and kind of tapping it in for par and Soly (Chris Solomon) misses.
“It’s like, I made that putt and that just fired me up a little bit. But I don’t know. There’s a big difference between me and pros. Huge, huge difference. And I think people need to realize that.
“There’s a lot of people that do realize that but then there’s a lot that you know, think that I could be out there. And the reality is there’s a huge gap between me and the tour pros. It’s giant.”
Dan Rapaport says there is no benefit for Grant Horvat to play on the PGA Tour
Horvat has grown his social following massively in recent times, with the American certainly well respected for his efforts on the course.
And that takes into consideration fans of the sport and indeed players, with Justin Thomas and Phil Mickelson among his recent collaborations.
And it is that part of golf that Rapaport thinks Horvat should continue to focus on, rather than making an appearance on the PGA Tour.
“I don’t think he should, if a Tour event gives him an invite, I don’t think he should play,” said Rapaport.
“There’s nothing in it [for him].
“He is such a superstar. If he goes out there and makes the cut it’s like great, he’s made the cut. We knew he was a good player.
“If he doesn’t, then people are going to dunk on him. Why not just be the best YouTuber? I don’t think there is any benefit.
“He’s a really good kid and sometimes when people have that much success you wonder if it’s genuine, but it’s 100% genuine with him. He’s just a really, really nice kid.”
Grant Horvat predicted to do ‘amazing job’ at PGA Tour event
Intriguing reaction has since arisen, regarding both what a potential appearance may look like and indeed what event he could take part in.
PGA Tour coach Jon Sherman wrote on X: “Yesterday Dan Rapaport asked Grant Horvat if he would accept a sponsor’s invite to a PGA Tour event.
“I believe this will happen 100% in the near-ish future at a low-level event. And then I predict the following:
“1) He’ll do an amazing job giving insight into what it’s like to prepare and play in a tour event, 2) The video will attract 10-30x more eyeballs than the TV viewership. Maybe even more, 3) TONS of people will be up in arms, saying he didn’t deserve to be there.”
Scottie Scheffler fan account Scheffler Legion then expressed support for the idea, replying: “You might as well give it a shot.
“As the Tour you already have the Creator Classic and Grant held his own at TPC Sawgrass for eight holes.
“Sure, don’t do it every week, but give him a 3M start or some smaller-scale event so people have eyeballs on an event they ordinarily don’t watch.
“If we are nitpicking over one spot out of 140 being taken by someone who will monumentally increase the scope of the game, what’s the point?”
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