Strip aside the designation of the competition and how nine YouTube golf content creators came to be teeing it up on the back nine of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on the eve of the PGA Tour’s flagship event on March 12, and Grant Horvat will always have one thing.
He made a birdie putt at the Island Green to win a tournament, four days before a Tour player could have that chance in The Players Championship.
“The closest thing I’ll get to the PGA Tour or a Tour win? Maybe,” said the former Palm Beach Atlantic player who, like his competitors, has found a niche on YouTube and other social media platforms with his popular golf videos. “It was special … an awesome feeling.”
With the sun setting over the bleachers surrounding the hole and a near-full moon rising over the other side, Horvat dropped an 18-foot putt at the par-3 17th hole to beat Chris “Soly” Solomon of Jacksonville Beach and former PGA Tour Americas player George Bryan to win the first Content Creator Classic at TPC Sawgrass.
The nine players battled over eight holes to get down to the top-three finishers, with Horvat and Bryan finishing at 1-over and Solomon, the co-founder of the No Laying Up podcast, posting a 2-over score with seven pars in a row after opening with a double-bogey at the par-4 10th hole.
Roger Steele three-putted No. 17 from 48 feet for bogey to finish 3-over and one shot out of possible playoff to reach the final three.
Soly made a good run at his birdie attempt
In the sudden death playoff, Horvat and Solomon both found the green but Bryan hit the water. He went to the drop area and hit his third shot to 20 feet but missed and cleared the Island for Solomon and Horvat.
Solomon, slightly away, burned the right edge with his birdie attempt and Horvat made his. It was his second clutch birdie putt of the day on a par-3 hole on the Stadium Course’s back nine, after a 60-foot monster at the par-3 13th hole.
“The one on No. 13 was crazy,” Horvat said. “But the last one, that was pressure. I was feeling it.”
Solomon was pleased with his play after a rough start. He duck-hooked his tee shot at No. 10, with the ball hitting a tree and bouncing back into rough, but leaving him a long approach, leading to his double.
It was the last hole he lost anything to par the rest of the tournament.
“I was seeing stars there for a little bit,” he said of his first hole. “Pete Dye [the Stadium Course architect] had me in a blender for about 20 minutes there. But we battled and I had a great time. I never thought I’d make it to the finals. I’m not playing enough golf to justify that but this was so much fun … the time of my life.”
Solomon said he couldn’t complain about losing to Horvat on a birdie.
“I was going to be more upset if I three-putted to lose but I hit a good putt,” he said. “Grant is an incredible player and I was not surprised to see him roll that in.”
Some of the golf was ugly
While Horvat, Solomon and George Bryan played commendable golf from the back tees to reach the playoff, it wasn’t all pretty.
Three-time world long drive champion Kyle Berkshire unleashed some moon shots but shot himself out of the playoff with a double bogey at the par-5 16th hole and a wet tee shot at No. 17. Tisha Alyn was in good shape until she made a quadruple bogey at No. 15. And past PGA Tour winner Wesley Bryan chopped up his first six holes, playing them at 7-over with double bogeys at Nos. 13 and 15.
Then where was Trent Ryan, a blogger for Barstool Sports. He finished last at 29-over, with a 10 at the par-5 16th hole and then an 11 at the par-3 17th, after hitting four tee shots in the water.
When he landed his ninth shot on the green, he and his caddie celebrated wildly, with the gallery behind the 17th tee joining the fun. Ryan then two-putted for an 11.
“He’s one of us,” yelled one fan.
Good shots led by Horvat’s birdie at No. 13
Horvat’s long birdie putt at the 13th elicited the loudest roar of the competition and was one of only seven birdies the nine players combined to make during regulation. Another was a 51-foot birdie at No. 17 by Nick “Fat Perez” Stubbe, the only birdie at the Island green before the playoff.
Gabby “Golf Girl” DeGasperis hit five of six fairways and was closest to the pin at No. 17 during the entire competition, hitting her tee shot to 8-7.
Alyn hit a marvelous approach at No. 16, after her tee shot rolled into pine straw on the left, but was up against the edge of the rough. She used a 5-iron to gouge the ball out onto the green.
And throughout the competition, their loyal YouTube fans were vocal and followed the action to the end. They lined the entire 10th tee box and filled the bank to the right and the players were greeted with more fans when they arrived at Nos. 16 and 17.
“We’re here for Grant Horvat,” said Jake Murgo, a member of the Fletcher High golf team. “He’s got one of the best swings I’ve ever seen and does a lot of fun stuff on YouTube.
AJ Bettencourt, another Fletcher High golfer, favored Wesley and George Bryan, who form Bryan Bros Golf.
“They’re good golfer and they motivate me to play more golf,” said Bettencourt.
Laura Mullins of The Villages and her friend Brittany Tackett of Kentucky were following Gabby Golf Girl after watching her interact with some children before the competition.
“She’s so sweet … she spent time with the little girls and you can tell she was an inspiration to them,” Mullins said. “I just wanted to hug her.”
Two more Creator Classics planned
The first Creator Classic was played at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta last year on the day before the FedEx Cup Championship. There will be another May 7 at the Philadelphia Cricket Club on the day before the first round of the Truist Classic, and it will return to East Lake on Aug. 20.
The event at TPC Sawgrass was streamed on the PGA Tour’s YouTube channel, Golf Channel, ESPN+ and the PGA Tour channels on Pluto TV, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Prime Video, Fire TV, Tubi, Xumo Play and LG Channel.
PGA Tour Entertainment and Pro Shop Studios, which produces the Netflix series “Full Swing,” shared production of the event.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Content Creator Classic at TPC Sawgrass: Grant Horvat wins with late birdie
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