Golf influencers drawing big crowds, ascending to celebrity status at WM Phoenix Open
The PGA players clearly aren’t the only stars at the WM Phoenix Open this week.
Nick Trapman waited eagerly on the right of the 10th hole fairway of TPC Scottsdale as Wyndham Clark teed off during Wednesday’s Annexus Pro-Am. And when Clark’s drive landed near him, Trapman seized a golden opportunity to ask for a picture. But it was not with whom you’d expect.
Instead of asking for a shot of 2023 U.S. Open champion, he wanted a photo with his caddie for the day, Robby Berger, a member of the popular YouTube Channel “Bob Does Sports,” which has 993,000 subscribers. It was an apt snapshot of the impact golf influencers have had on the growing popularity of the sport.
But it became an even odder sight when Clark took time away from lining up his approach shot to snap a photo of Trapman and Berger.
“It’s crazy, I think the influencers are just as big if not bigger than some pros,” Trapman said. “Some I really don’t know that well, but I know (Robby), I know Grant (Horvat) from watching YouTube. It was awesome (to get Berger’s signature), I was hoping it would happen but you never know. That little interaction was so cool.”
Berger said growing to a status where a major champion would take a picture of him and one of his fans is “absolutely bizarre.”
“Credit to the PGA tour players that are adapting to it and being so open to it,” Berger said.
Clark said he welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with golf influencers.
“I just think it’s bringing people that maybe weren’t into golf into golf, and also shedding light on how fun golf is, how social it is,” Clark said.
“When they play with us, (their viewers) get to see our personalities and that we’re not just boring golfers. … We do everything that normal people do on golf courses as well, but maybe when we’re at tournament, we’re a little bit more machine-like.”
Hundreds of fans came to the WM Phoenix Open fan shop on Thursday for a chance to take a photo and interact with members of the “Bob Does Sports” crew, which amassed a big following with humorous banter on the course, creative golf challenges and interacting with pro golfers. The group’s merchandise line, Breezy Golf, is one of the brands that is being sold this week.
“It’s surreal, to see it where we first were and selling it, and to see it the tent it’s pretty wild,” Berger said. “We definitely pinch ourselves and we always will.”
Jose Rodriguez and Amanda Wills attended the meet and greet because they say they watch the “Bob Does Sports” every day at home in Michigan. The two said they consume more YouTube golf than the PGA Tour because it’s more personable and relatable than watching the PGA Tour players “stick every shot.”
“It’s just fun because they breathe life back into golf, especially for younger people,” Wills said.
The “Bob Does Sports” crew is just one of the many golf influencers roaming around at the WM Phoenix Open this week. Frankie Borelli joined Barstool Sports’ “Fore Play Golf” channel about five years ago and said the PGA Tour’s reception of their channel has changed significantly.
“We started by getting kicked out of PGA Tour events because we were overstepping our boundaries or not listening to rules, whether we would an interview a guy in the wrong spot, we just didn’t really know,” Borelli said.
“Now, flash forward nine years later and we’re on a creator council from the PGA Tour where they’re asking us questions about how they should go about media guidelines. It’s really cool.”
The council, which was introduced in December, is made up of 10 popular content creators and golf brands with the goal of engaging with influencers into the professional game and increasing fan engagement, according to a PGA Tour release.
Last year, the PGA Tour introduced its Creator Classic, when 16 popular golf influencers competed in an individual stroke play tournament the day before the season-ending Tour Championship.
The PGA Tour said the Creator Classic drew more than 2.6 million views and engaged more than 60 million golf fans across social media. The tour is building off that event this year for a creator series that will feature more than 20 influencers and take place across the three PGA events.
Joel Dahmen, who became a WM Phoenix Open fan favorite when he took his shirt off on the 16th hole in 2022, said he is a fan of the tour’s growing partnerships with golf influencers.
“The tour’s been late to a few things in their history, and to have some different ideas and eyeballs behind it all is pretty good,” Dahmen said. “The more brains the better, and I think YouTube and that influence of it all will only help the game.”
Will McLernon is a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism
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