With cabin fever setting in and the field looking like it does at the Cognizant Classic, it\u2019s a good week to spend a disturbing amount of hours watching golf on YouTube. The haters might tell you to go touch grass, but a lot of us haven\u2019t even seen grass since Thanksgiving, so shut up losers and LET US HAVE THIS!<\/p>\n
Best of the Rest <\/p>\n
Who is the best YouTube golfer, non-Bryson DeChambeau division? That question has stumped the world\u2019s greatest minds for decades a few years now, and this week Brad Dalke, Sean Walsh and the Bryan Bros. set out to deliver that answer. Though the concept itself is simple\u2014three episodes, 27 holes, individual stroke play\u2014the rollout wasn\u2019t quite as tight as it could have been. Each episode is hosted on a different channel (episode three will premiere on Sean Walsh\u2019s page), and aren\u2019t numbered sequentially, so just follow along if you\u2019re a little lost so far.<\/p>\n
RELATED: Golf bettor drops nearly 30 pounds (!) thanks to Scottie Scheffler<\/p>\n
Now to the elephant in the room: This is by no means definitive. Without the likes of Luke Kwon, Grant Horvat and others in the mix, it\u2019s hard to call this comprehensive. It\u2019s worth noting that both George and Wesley Bryan bested Kwon in a YouTube match late last year, but they were pipped by former PGA Tour China\/Australasian Tour pro Sam Heung-Min in that same match. In other words, on any given day, any of these guys is capable of beating the other, and that\u2019s why pro golf use cumulative metrics like the OWGR, which, despite its obvious flaws, seeks to determine a World No. 1 based on a recent body of work, not just the week\u2019s results.<\/p>\n
The legitimacy of this three-part series is aided a bit by the course, Casa del Campo, AKA \u201cThe Teeth of the Dog.\u201d The classic Pete Dye design is the 51st best golf course on earth according to Golf Digest\u2019s World\u2019s 100 Greatest and plays at 7,471 yards. Resort golf doesn\u2019t always provide the sternest test, but Casa del Campo is an exception. We don\u2019t want to spoil too much, but as you\u2019ll see there are some big numbers to be found out there.<\/p>\n
Through the first two rounds, the series has produced a \u201csurprise\u201d leader, only further muddying the waters. It\u2019s my opinion that on YouTube, competition should be used purely for entertainment, not for establishing any sort of ranking system. Go watch the PGA Tour if you want a clear hierarchy supported by hard data. YouTube should be about relatability, fun and education (instruction, equipment, etc.), and the good news is that this mostly delivers on those first two tenants. That said, would anyone complain if we got one big YouTube stroke play major a year featuring all the platform\u2019s best players, no strokes, no teams, no gimmicks? We\u2019re guessing not \u2026<\/p>\n
Quick Hits <\/p>\n
Bob Does Sports<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a first-time for everything \u2026 including Bob Does Sports\u2019 inaugural 3v2 match. But let\u2019s be honest, it could be 100v2 and you\u2019d still watch because BDS is all about the journey, not the destination.<\/p>\n
TaylorMade\/PGA Tour<\/p>\n
Honestly, I got super excited for this one. Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlory, Tommy Fleetwood and Collin Morikawa play as a best-ball foursome at Riviera to see what they would shoot as a team. Pinch me, I\u2019m dreaming! Unfortunately, it\u2019s just a camera following each guy around separately and then adding up the quartet\u2019s best possible score. Still interesting, still a ton of ridiculous of shots on display, but buyer beware, this is not quite what it\u2019s advertised to be.<\/p>\n
Grant Horvat<\/p>\n
In addition to seeing how YouTube golf stars stack up to each other, there\u2019s been a recent push to see how the platform\u2019s best sticks stack up to their pro counterparts. This road is fraught with perils\u2014what separates a tour pro from a plus handicapper isn\u2019t always skill, but the ability to handle pressure, and many YouTube golf fans are drawn to the platform specifically because it ISN\u2019T pro golf. Still though, you can\u2019t deny the curiosity, and this week Horvat indulged us by teeing it up on the Minor League Golf Tour. If you\u2019ve ever dreamed of playing an event like this and seeing how your game (and nerves) hold up, this is mandatory viewing.<\/p>\n
Luke Kwon<\/p>\n
If that Horvat video scratched the itch but you\u2019re looking for even higher stakes, swing by Luke Kwon\u2019s channel. This week, Kwon documented his experience playing in the New Zealand Open, where the winner earns a spot in the 2026 Open Championship. The weather is nasty and fellow YouTuber Sam Heung-Min is subbing on the bag, but it\u2019s still cool to see Kwon\u2014who has taken his fair share of criticism for his laissez faire attitude\u2014lock in and focus on something that matters to him. The Claret Jug might not be in Kwon\u2019s future, but this is still a great look at what it\u2019s like to be one of thousands of pros grinding away on mini tours across the globe.<\/p>\n
Rick Shiels<\/p>\n
With all the hype surrounding Takomo clubs and YouTube channels like the Bryan Bros., Grant Horvat and Bob Does Sports officially repping them, you might be wondering if you\u2019re getting a truly honest assessment. Rick Shiels is here to (hopefully) put those doubts to rest with a brutally honest review of the affordable Finnish brand. If you\u2019re in the market for a set of new clubs that punch above their weight, make sure to give this one a spin.<\/p>\n
Good Good Golf <\/p>\n
Want to watch Good Good\u2019s best and brightest compete for $25,000? Of course you do. Check out parts 1 and 2 here \u2026 and keep eye a close on Mo\u2019s rangefinder while you\u2019re at it.<\/p>\n
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With cabin fever setting in and the field looking like it does at the Cognizant Classic, it\u2019s a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[4225,64,63,755,138747,44,85,76226],"class_list":["post-508259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-article","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-golf-digest","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-the-loop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}