TL; DR
Barstool increases the 2026 Internet Invitational prize pool to $4m for the winning team
Rory’s competitor IQ is unmatched…
Relive the Internet Inventational 2025
Has Ron met his match in the middle of the Bass Straight?
Scheffler, Reed and Korda still reign supreme
NEWS
Golf's New Millionaires Have Never Made a Cut
Background: The Internet Invitational is Barstool Sports' made-for-YouTube golf tournament, 48 content creators, team formats, and real prize money. The first edition racked up 28.7 million views across six episodes. Cheating allegations, emotional storylines, Jon Gruden at halftime. Golf, but make it reality TV.
What happened: Dave Portnoy just announced the 2026 purse is $4 million, four times what the first edition paid out. That puts it on par with opposite-field PGA Tour events and above the majority of DP World Tour tournaments. YouTubers are now playing for tour-level money. Let that sink in…
What else: Grant Horvat and the Bryan Bros. are also launching their own YouTube golf circuit 'Your Golf Tour' backed by Wynn Las Vegas, with a $1 million grand prize. Serious money is now chasing entertainment golf from multiple directions at once.
What's the key learning?
Golf has quietly split into two products; elite skill and elite entertainment. Both are growing. The money flowing into the entertainment lane is no longer a sideshow. With 1m+ views for a Bob Does Sports episode vs. 2-3m+ views of a PGA tour Sunday Broadcast - the gap is closing.
Portnoy has reportedly invited Caitlin Clark and Kai Trump to the next edition. When a basketball player and the President's granddaughter are your marquee names, the definition of professional golf/ golf entertainment has changed for good.
SOCIAL
Name That Swing
Can you name these backswings faster than Rory @golfoncbs
STREAM
Relive the full Internet Invitational for 2025!
Has Ron meet his match…
SOCIAL
FedEx Cup Rankings (PGA)
1 | 🇺🇸 Scottie Scheffler | 11 Events/ 1 Win/ 7 Top 10’s |
|---|---|---|
2 | 🇺🇸 Cameron Young | 11 / 2 / 6 |
3 | 🏴 Matt Fitzpatrick | 12 / 3 / 5 |
4 | 🇺🇸 Collin Morikawa | 10 / 1 / 5 |
5 | 🇰🇷 Si Woo Kim | 15 / 0 / 7 |
DP World Tour Rankings
1 | 🇺🇸 Patrick Reed | 8 Events/ 2 Win/ 5 Top 10’s |
|---|---|---|
2 | 🇬🇬 Rory McIlroy | 5 / 1 / 3 |
3 | 🇿🇦 Jayden Schaper | 13 / 2 / 5 |
4 | 🇿🇦 Casey Jarvis | 12 / 2 / 5 |
5 | 🏴 Aaron Rai | 2 / 1 / 1 |
LPGA Rankings (Race to CME Globe)
1 | 🇺🇸 Nelly Korda | 7 Events/ 3 Win/ 7 Top 10’s |
|---|---|---|
2 | 🇰🇷 Hyo Joo Kim | 7 / 2 / 4 |
3 | 🇹🇭 Jenoo Thitkul | 9 / 2 / 4 |
4 | 🇦🇺 Hannah Green | 6 / 2 / 4 |
5 | 🇨🇳 Ruoning Yin | 10 / 0 / 4 |
Until next week,
Hop