The inaugural Creator Classic is all set to kickstart on August 28. 16 players—popular golf content creators—will tee off at the East Lake Golf Club on Wednesday for the nine-hole tournament. Ahead of the big event, the PGA Tour, in partnership with Golfbet, decided to rank the entire field. And that’s where the problem began.

Now, power rankings are somewhat subjective, regardless of the way we see it. And unlike the Tour Championship field, there is very little actual data available to rank them properly. Nevertheless, a few choices didn’t sit well with fans.

They ranked George Bryan IV at number 7. While Paige Spiranac was ranked second. However, Bryan IV has PGA Tour experience. He has teed off in the Butterfield Bermuda Classic in 2023, tying for 69th. He was also part of the Myrtle Beach Classic ‘Q’, an early edition of the Creator Classic that the PGA Tour tested.

Bryan IV couldn’t qualify for the tournament at the pre-qualifier. However, he was given a sponsor exemption. Bryan IV missed the cut. However, a lot of fans felt he should’ve still been ranked ahead given his wealth of experience in pro golf. Bryan IV has played on the Korn Ferry Tour as well. In fact, his younger brother, a tournament favorite, too, opened up.

Fans bash PGA Tour for frivolous Creator Classic rankings

A larger section of fans consider George Bryan IV only one of the handful of players to be worth watching at the Creator Classic. Some were willing to bet on him to take the title even. Quite naturally, they were angry that Paige Spiranac was ranked five places ahead of George Bryan IV.

One user commented, “Paige @ #2? Yeah right LMAO.” Another seconded the opinion, commenting, “George is better than Fat Perez and Paige. Easily.” A section of people also suggested alternate rankings. One where the Bryan Bros take up the top-two spot, rounded off by Luke Kwon. One of them simply dubbed it an “Embarassing (sic!) list.”

On top of it, some also pointed out that ranking Peter Finch at 16th, the dead last, is utterly disrespectful. Some of the fans also pointed out Sean Walsh should rank much higher than 9th. Per Golf Digest, he has played in 48 PGA Tour-sanctioned events in his career. One fan commented, “George Bryan being ranked THAT low is laughable.”

But most importantly, even Wesley, the younger of the Bryan Bros, chimed in. Wesley has one PGA Tour title under his belt, the only one in the field to boast that. “I don’t know who @Golfbet is, and I don’t know who at PGATOUR approved this article. Everyone involved should be ashamed….don’t think for a second you can put George at #7 and expect me to not go headhunting. The @PGATOUR  media team is lost, with no chance to recover from this.”

Well, the PGA Tour got mired in controversy ever before the first tee. But this shows that the YouTube golf community has grown so big that a power ranking for a fun tournament like Creator Classic can cause a firestorm. Something Jay Monahan will eagerly check to drive more eyeballs to the PGA Tour.