The PGA Tour is getting a rough ride at the moment from a lot of golf fans and this week’s Farmers Insurance Open has done nothing to improve matters either.
With the ongoing battle with LIV Golf still rumbling along in the background, it feels like the PGA Tour are falling behind a bit in terms of serving its fans the best possible experience.
Indeed, with Rick Shiels joining LIV Golf to create content and 18 players pulling out of the Farmers this week, it’s very much been a few days to forget for the TOUR.
- READ MORE: Golf fans flood to comment on Rick Shiels’ move to LIV after he releases announcement on Youtube
But just when it looked like they might be home and dry in terms of any more criticism for the week, the PGA Tour is now getting hammered again, this time for their coverage of the final round at the Farmers.
PGA Tour criticised by golf fans for Farmers Insurance Open coverage of Wesley Bryan
With a turbulent few rounds coming to a close at Torrey Pines, the final round was reaching its finale with a number of players in the mix to win.
One of the players who was in the top five was popular YouTube star and PGA player, Wesley Bryan.
Bryan was very much in contention to win at one point and given his popularity, you’d have expected the TV coverage to show plenty of Bryan’s shots.
However, we barely got to see anything of Bryan and golf fans over on social media were once again fuming with the coverage, with some using the opportunity to once again call out the PGA Tour for missed opportunities.
One fan made the point about Bryan, claiming the PGA were missing a trick not showing him.
“Hey @PGATOUR …maybe if you’re trying to grow the game and get eyeballs watching again…show Wesley Bryan. Just saying…the fact he is top 5 and you still don’t show him is crazy. Mic him up and keep the cameras on him!!!”
That started a thread of criticism from fans, with another fan claiming the TOUR had ‘no idea’ how to improve its coverage.
“The PGA TOUR has no idea how to run an entertaining broadcast in 2025 – their production team is weak and their product is weak – nothing has changed/adapted in decades.”
While another claimed it was ‘short sightedness’ once again from the powers that be.
“Classic PGA short sightedness. They think it’s all their cake. Anything remotely in tune with the changing of the game or dipping into their back pockets can’t possibly be shown. They will wake up one day, unfortunately it will be too late when they do.”
Carrying on the discussion, another golf fan suggested future TV deals could be in the balance.
“Like I keep saying they think it is 2013 out there- it’s so out of touch and now they are feeling it. Gonna be interesting to see how the TV deals turn out when they come for renewal”
Another supporter claimed that the PGA Tour simply don’t want to give Bryan more exposure due to his YouTube fame.
“That would give him YouTube exposure which is exactly what they don’t want to do. PGA is very very jealous of YouTube golf right now.”
And that comment was backed up by another fan, who suggested jealousy from the TOUR.
“Came here to say that! What’s a brother gotta do to get some screen time. A conspiracy theorist would posit that main stream media is threatened by the explosion of interest in YouTube golf.”
Could the PGA Tour fall behind LIV Golf on TV coverage?
In the end, Wesley Bryan finished 25th so the counter-argument would be that a player finishing so low is not going to be the main man for TV.
However, the point made by the fans here is a good and valid one and the longer these sorts of things go on, the more and more it feels like the PGA Tour are lagging behind.
While LIV Golf might not have the same product or TV deals as the TOUR right now, they are coming and with a TV deal for 2025 and going forward, it will be interesting to see if fans do shift over.
If that happens and the numbers start to tell the story, then the PGA Tour will simply have to act or risk becoming the secondary tour.
Given the situation a few years ago in golf, it’s almost unfathomable to imagine the PGA being a secondary choice when it comes to golf.
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