Wesley Bryan was the man to beat at the Creator Classic in East Lake. The PGA Tour pro, who has had a T2 finish this year, was touted to beat the field of competitors who were all good golfers, no doubt, but no one had the experience and the pedigree that he has. But he was beaten in a sudden death playoff by fellow pro-Luke Kwon. Maybe this is why he was subsequently trolled on the internet.

Wesley Bryan turned professional in 2012 and began his career on the Korn Ferry Tour before qualifying for the PGA Tour in 2016. In 2017, he won his first—and so far, only—PGA Tour tournament, the RBC Heritage. Since then, he has also pivoted to becoming a content creator.

During the 9-hole special tournament, he finished as the leader at the end of normal play. In the sudden-death playoff round at the 18th hole, he was pitted against the other top 4 finishers – Luke Kwon, Roger Steele, and Sean Walsh. He zoomed his second shot into the audience standing beside the green and was allowed to take relief.

Luke Kwon, Roger Steele, and Sean Walsh meanwhile, played their balls from several feet from the green. Walsh used a Texas wedge while Kwon used his lob wedge to bounce the ball onto the green and past the hole.

All four had birdie putts and only Luke Kwon sank it to win the Creator Classic. The loss drummed up a barrage of comments that seemed to make fun of a current PGA Tour Professional’s loss to golf influencers.

What the audience had to say

Having watched the 9-hole special program, Twitter users demanded an apology from Wesley Bryan for his performance. As a Tour Professional, his credibility will surely dive after he blew his second shot into the grandstands during crunch time which is typically where the difference between professionals and amateurs lies. One Twitter user wrote: “Wesley Bryan should formally apologize after that performance on 18. Alternate fairway and then blows it into the grandstands for TIO during the Creator Classic? Are you serious? Extremely troubling stuff.”

The Bryan Bros Golf channel’s profile responded to the tweet, writing, “BOO ON YOU TRON!!! (Thanks for watching btw 🤷🏻‍♂️🙌🏻)”

Other users made the point that Bryan has been playing in the PGA Tour this year and maybe should not be playing as a content creator. His best result this year was at the Corales Puntacana Championship in April but he has not cut in 9 of the 12 starts he has made. Albeit he is a so-so professional but is a professional nonetheless. That is what this user expressed in his tweet, ”The fact he’s playing is disgusting. The guy had a 2nd place finish at a PGA event this year”.

Another question raised by users was who exactly qualifies as a content creator that can participate in the Creator Classic? If just being a golfer on YouTube is the criteria then why isn’t Bryson DeChambeau playing, they seemed to ask. One user wrote: “Wesley Bryan playing in the creator classic just didn’t seem right. He’s won a PGA Tour event for goodness sakes and is an active member on the PGA Tour. He should be striving to tee it up tomorrow, not today. I realize he didn’t win, but still….. Bryson has today off and is a content creator, why isn’t he playing?”

The dissenting voice was also present in the murky depths of the comments section, which seemed to say that even though he is technically a pro, he has made only 3 cuts this year and that he had a one-stroke lead before heading into the playoff. One user summed up the sentiment, saying, “He had a heck of a round and it’s not the pga. These are amateurs happy to have the opportunity to. Relax.”

However, the Creator Classic turned out, audiences seemed to be glued to their screens. The inaugural edition may well lead to the event becoming a regular thing as it is helping to show a less stuffy side of the PGA Tour and merges the YouTube golf and professional golf worlds into one entertaining package.