Professional Golf Is Missing Personalities

The Search for Larger-Than-Life Golf Personalities

First off, this week’s newsletter is a little rushed. My PC crashed this week causing some other work related issues. Never fun when this happens. But here we go.

Professional golf is in a strange place right now. There is the divide between the PGA Tour and LIV which seems to be softening. YouTube channels for golf have large followings. Ratings for professional golf tournaments have declined. The majority of popular golf personalities aren’t on any tour. The best player on the planet, Scottie Scheffler, is a nice guy but doesn’t drive ratings like Tiger did when he was the clear number one golfer on the planet. Gone are the larger-than-life personalities like Palmer, Trevino and Daly.

Last week I wrote about Bryson DeChambeau and his incredible transformation. He is arguably the most popular professional golfer on the planet right now. But after him? Players might be popular, but there are no other truly big personalities moving the golf viewing needle.

Professional golf is struggling to find those players.

LIV Golf is built on a foundation to attempt to create big personalities. The tournaments themselves attempt to create big atmospheres for big personalities to emerge. Their slogan, “Golf, but louder,” plays into the live music and party atmosphere their tournaments promote. It is an attempt to move away from the more staid traditional golf tournament. The only player from LIV who has seemed to thrive since joining the tour is DeChambeau, but his growing fanbase and personality seems to be due to his YouTube presence rather than LIV.

Not only has LIV tried to make the in person experience a party-like atmosphere, they have tried to ramp up the broadcast experience as well. Big, bold graphics combined with big personality broadcasters like David Feherty, they have attempted to engage viewers with a more exciting broadcast.

In contrast, The PGA Tour has stuck with it’s conservative broadcast model using tried and true broadcasters like Jim Nantz who are masterful at their craft but bring little in terms of excitement.

YouTube personalities have large followings. Peter Finch, Grant Horvat, Bryan Brothers Golf, Bob Does Sports featuring Fat Perez, Bobby Fairways, Joey Coldcuts and Binny the Jet and hosted by Robby Berger are some of the bigger channels. There are many other popular channels including Bryson DeChambeau.

In an effort to tap into the popularity of YouTube and other social media golf personalities, the PGA Tour created The Creator Classic, an event featuring 16 of the top golf content creators. The first event was met with mixed success.

Tiger is launching a new venture, TGL, in partnership with the PGA Tour in an effort to engage golf fans. The new league is stadium golf using a simulator with a team concept. It is different and innovative with the players mic’d up. Hopefully, fans will get to see the players personalities emerge.

It was also announced this week the return of The Skins Game. For those of you who don’t remember The Skins Game, it was the original fun format where PGA Tour stars competed in a skins game while mic’d up. It was a lot of fun to watch, but the match was blessed with larger than life personalities golf fans loved. Players such as Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, Trevino, Watson, Zoeller, Couples and Daly not only played some great golf but brought their big personalities to the event. These players made the event work.

Without similar players, it’s going to be a hard sell.

Right now, there are few big golf personalities which draw in the golf fan. While I enjoy watching Scheffler play and appreciate his genuine nice guy image, he doesn’t have a big, engaging personality. We need more players like ones from the past. Golf needs the Trevino’s, Daly’s and Palmer’s. Even with LIV or TGL or The Skins Game, I’m not sure the tour players of today have the juice golf fans are wanting.

As always, be grateful when you play. Be thankful for the privilege and opportunity to play this amazing game. Now, go golf!