Jay Monahan & Co. have been on the stricter side with their rules and regulations for the event. Be it the policy for the fans at the course, or the media coverage. LIV Golf kept things light with kid zones and unrestricted event coverage—perks the PGA Tour never prioritized. Additionally, the league offered restriction-free coverage of the events. However, these things were never prioritized by the PGA Tour. Even when Phil Mickelson pointed them out.

Some changes were crucial, and despite the criticism, he’s stood by his points. “The players don’t have access to their own media. If the tour wanted to end any threat [from Saudi or anywhere else], they could just hand back the media rights to the players,” Phil Mickelson said.

He even highlighted the reason behind his switch sharing, “It is the tour’s obnoxious greed that has really opened the door for opportunities elsewhere.” The golfer, with his harsh statements, found a lot of criticism. But, Josh Carpenter’s update on the PGA Tour just vindicated the criticism.

The post read, “Are the days of being DMCA’d on Golf Twitter over? The PGA Tour has made some tweaks to its media guidelines. One of those appears to be around how it monitors social media videos.” Sports Business Journal later came out with more details. The report shared that the adjustments in media regulation will impact tournaments, host organizations, media partners, title sponsors, content creators, and select endemics.

For the recent changes, the league has seen great coverage from the influencer’s side as well. Take the example of “No Laying Up” which created an AT&T-sponsored segment with Jordan Spieth. All thanks to the “Fan Forward” initiative of the league that started last year. Until now, there have been significant changes that were a major concern for the league. However, the best still is the creator council.

Phil Mickelson’s stance echoes in PGA Tour’s Creator Council

The growth of social media for the league was an enormous setback with the restriction on influencers and YouTubers to cover the event. However, to address that, in December 2024, a new ‘Creator Council’ was introduced by the tour. The council included Bob Does Sports, Erik Anders Lang, No Laying Up, Roger Steele, Bryan Bros Golf, Fore Play Golf, Paige Spiranac, and Tisha Alyn.

10 inaugural content creators will help the league expand with better strategies and fan engagement. To develop those, the team will have meetings at select PGA Tour Events thrice a year. For the new initiative, Tish Alyn shared, “Social media is the future of golf, and together, we’re bringing a fresh perspective that will grow the game and connect with a broader audience in exciting ways.”

Even Andy Weitz, PGA Tour chief marketing and communication officer shared his thoughts saying, “The combined creative engines behind the Council and Tour will help strengthen and grow our collective relationship with the vibrant community of fans who love to engage with golf and the PGA Tour through social media.”

With the recent development in the direction shared by Mickelson earlier, the PGA Tour has shown decent progress in the direction shared by the golfer. But those criticized harsh takes might be vindicated. What are your thoughts on it? Let us know in the comments below.