Building on the success of the inaugural Creator Classic last August, the PGA Tour and Pro Shop Studios are raising the stakes in 2025 to launch a season-long sequence of events and content featuring the most prominent YouTube creators in golf. The creator series will unfold across three PGA Tour events throughout the 2025 FedExCup Season.
Last year’s inaugural Creator Classic was staged the day before the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, the finale to the PGA Tour’s FedExCup Playoffs. Sixteen of the most dynamic YouTube creators competed in an individual stroke play tournament on the back nine at East Lake that was broadcast live on the PGA Tour YouTube channel, ESPN+, Peacock and PGA Tour FAST channels. The event garnered more than 2.6 million views, was the No. 2 trending video on YouTube, and engaged nearly 60 million golf fans across all social media platforms during a four-week period.
In 2025, the PGA Tour and Pro Shop Studios will produce three additional events at the Tour locations below, each with its own individual competition format, name and player field, which will be announced in the near future.
- The Players Championship, Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass: Wednesday, March 12
- Truist Championship, Wissahickon Course at The Philadelphia Cricket Club: Wednesday, May 7
- TOUR Championship, East Lake Golf Club: Wednesday, August 20
More than 20 fan-favourite creators will participate across these three events, with some of the stars from the first Creator Classic returning to compete alongside new personalities.
“The inaugural Creator Classic served as a valuable testing ground as we look at new ways to connect with fans and creators,” said Chris Wandell, PGA Tour SVP, Media. “We are pleased with how the initial concept unfolded at the 2024 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club and are excited to offer fans even more creator-driven content this year across three iconic PGA Tour venues, including TPC Sawgrass, home of The Players Championship, and Philadelphia Cricket Club, the 2025 host of the Truist Championship.”
Similar to the Creator Classic, this year’s competitions will be streamed live via the PGA Tour’s YouTube channel as well as on ESPN+, the PGA TOUR channel on Pluto TV, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Prime Video, Fire TV, Tubi, Xumo Play and LG Channels as well as NBC platforms. The series will be produced to the quality of a premium broadcast, featuring live ShotLink powered by CDW scoring/data, Trackman shot tracing and rich, on-screen graphics. For those looking to experience the excitement in person, each of the three events will be accessible via a Practice Round ticket.
The first Creator Classic was a testament to the growing power of YouTube golf and how fans engage with the sport. Combining the authenticity and relatability of digital creators with the production value of the PGA Tour, the event introduced a dynamic new way to experience golf. Following the success of the Creator Classic, the PGA Tour in November introduced the Creator Council, a group of top creators in the golf space that will work alongside the PGA Tour to cultivate fan engagement strategies and collaborative content opportunities, as well as the evolution of events like the Creator Classic and those planned for 2025.
Pro Shop Studios, the production company behind the Netflix hit series “Full Swing,” will partner with PGA Tour Studios to run on-ground and broadcast production. Spearheading this effort with Greg Hopfe, Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of PGA Tour Live, are Emmy-winning producers and “Full Swing” creators Chad Mumm and Mark Olsen, and creative executives KP Anderson and Kiley Homan.
“This announcement marks an exciting next step in Pro Shop’s mission to unite golf and culture in fresh, innovative ways,” said Mumm, co-founder of Pro Shop. “Building on the success of the Creator Classic, this series expands our partnership with the PGA Tour as we showcase the unique power of digital creators to engage new audiences and cement golf’s growing presence in the cultural mainstream.”
