Sometimes, borrowing from your rivals isn’t just a good idea—it’s a smart move. And right now, the PGA Tour is doing exactly that, taking a few pages from LIV Golf’s playbook in a clear attempt to boost engagement and attract younger fans. (You can almost hear the desperate cries for viewership in the background.)

For decades, professional golf has been all about the grind of 72-hole stroke play, where the focus was purely on competition. But when LIV Golf burst onto the scene with its party-like atmosphere, team formats, and emphasis on entertainment, it was only a matter of time before the PGA Tour had to adapt.

Enter the Creator Classic—a brand-new event leading up to The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. It’s golf but with a fresh twist: popular golf content creators will battle it out on the iconic back nine, including the famous island green at 17 and the brutal 18th hole.

The guys at Barstool Sports’ Fore Play podcast were fired up when the news dropped, especially since one of their own will earn a spot through a qualifier. “A member of the Fore Play team, we don’t know which one yet, we’re doing a qualifier, will be playing Sawgrass, nine holes, on Wednesday of the Players’ Championship in this Creator Cup situation,” said Sam Riggs Bozoian.

“The announcement came out yesterday of who all is participating. We got one spot, that was sort of, you know, in the talks, which is great, I think that’s perfect. Somebody’s going to play in front of tens of thousands of fans on the back nine at TPC Sawgrass, the day before The Players Championship opens up.”

Frankie Borrelli added: “We’re going to get the whole crew to a golf course, we’re going to have a proper tournament, ball in hole, tournament-style, major-style, to decide who plays at Sawgrass. There’s going to be a lot on the line. This is something tangible that you’re actually winning.”

And it’s not just Barstool getting in on the action. The field for TPC Sawgrass will feature big names from the golf content world, including returning players like the Bryan Bros, Fat Perez from Bob Does Sports, Gabby Golf Girl, and Roger Steele, along with new faces like Grant Horvat, Kyle Berkshire, Tisha Alyn, Soly from No Laying Up, and as Riggs suggested, a Barstool personality who will be chosen via qualifier.

The PGA Tour takes a page from LIV Golf

The Creator Classic isn’t just some one-off experiment—it’s part of a bigger shift. The PGA Tour is finally embracing the entertainment side of golf, something LIV Golf has been doing from the start. And besides the Players Championship, the PGA Tour will also host two other separate Creator Classic events: the Truist Championship on the Wissahickon Course at The Philadelphia Cricket Club and the TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club. It’s clear they’re trying to tap into the same younger, digital-first audience that LIV Golf has already been reaching.

But the PGA Tour isn’t stopping there. Golf journalist Dan Rapaport recently threw out the idea of an All-Star Skills Challenge, and it sounds like something golf desperately needs. Imagine the world’s best players competing in long-drive competitions, high-launch challenges, glass-breaking trick shots, and closest-to-the-pin contests where they have to bend the ball around obstacles. Rapaport summed it up best in a tweet: “The game is ready for it. Let’s do it.” And honestly, he’s right.

Meanwhile, as the PGA Tour is finally catching on, LIV Golf isn’t letting up. Their latest move is a major partnership with YouTube’s biggest golf creator, Rick Shiels. With nearly 3 million subscribers (precisely 2.92 million), Shiels has a reach that rivals traditional sports broadcasters, and now he’ll be attending all 14 LIV events this season, giving fans exclusive behind-the-scenes content.

It’s a massive win for LIV, further blurring the lines between professional golf and the digital world. For those who want to catch all the action of the Creator Classic at TPC Sawgrass, the event will be streamed live on the PGA Tour’s YouTube channel, GOLF Channel, ESPN+, and a range of streaming platforms like Pluto TV, Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Prime Video, Fire TV, Tubi, Xumo Play, and LG Channels.

Whether you think the PGA Tour is finally getting with the times or that LIV Golf is still ahead of the curve, one thing is clear: golf is evolving, and the days of it being just a slow, buttoned-up sport are long gone.