Creator Classic: Grant Horvat Beats George Bryan And Soly In Playoff To Win At TPC Sawgrass

Grant Horvat birdied the 17th hole in the playoff to beat George Bryan and No Laying Up's Soly

Grant Horvat holds the Creator Classic trophy

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Ten of golf's most well-known creators took on the challenge of TPC Sawgrass ahead of The Players Championship in the first of three Creator Classics this year on the PGA Tour, and it was YouTube star Grant Horvat who went on to win the title.

Horvat, who has 1.08m YouTube subscribers, led for much of the afternoon after birdieing the par 3 13th and he finished T1st with playing partner George Bryan at one-over after eight holes.

No Laying Up's Chris 'Soly' Solomon doubled the opener after hooking his first tee shot but closed with seven consecutive pars to edge out Roger Steele and book his spot in the playoff.

It was Horvat who triumphed after finding the green with a pitching wedge and rolling in a left-to-righter from around 15ft for the win.

"Today I proved something to myself that I can handle the nerves. In the past I kind of got so tight and tried to guide it and today I was swinging free," Horvat said.

Trent Ryan of Fore Play had the moment of the tournament at the 17th, where he made an 11 after carding a 10 on the 16th. Ryan found the island green with his fifth attempt after four water balls and eventually two-putted for the 11 and a 29-over-par total.

Fat Perez also enjoyed a memorable moment on 17 himself, with the Bob Does Sports man rolling in a 50-footer from the back of the green to finish in 5th-place.

The surprise of the day was Wesley Bryan, the 2017 RBC Heritage PGA Tour winner, who slumped to a six-over-par total for the eight holes. He missed out on the playoff by four strokes.

The next Creator Classic comes at May's Truist Championship, with the final of three events coming at East Lake in August ahead of the Tour Championship.

Creator classic Leaderboard

  • +1 Grant Horvat (won with birdie on playoff)
  • +1 George Bryan
  • +2 Soly
  • +3 Roger Steele
  • +4 Fat Perez
  • +6 Tisha Alyn
  • +6 Kyle Berkshire
  • +6 Gabby Golf Girl
  • +6 Wesley Bryan
  • +29 Trent Ryan
Refresh

GRANT HORVAT'S WINNING MOMENT:

GRANT HORVAT TO WIN THE CREATOR CLASSIC...

He holes it! The YouTube star, wielding his long putter, finds the bottom of the cup with his left-to-righter and lets out a big fist pump.

Very well played.

SOLY UP FOR BIRDIE ON 17...

The No Laying Up podcast host just misses to the right and it runs a good 6ft past.

TRENT ON HIS 11...

"It felt great. It felt really good. Usually you aren't very happy with an 11 but people were rooting me in so it was fun," he said, while telling Paige Spiranac that he only had two golf balls left.

"I thought we were gonna be here all night and run out of golf balls. We were running out of golf balls fast!"

GEORGE BRYAN FROM THE DROP ZONE

His brother Wesley says "Hoop it George, come on."

The wedge shot ends around 25ft left of the pin and that'll be his race run.

PLAYOFF UNDERWAY

Soly is up first with a PW and he's found the green, where he'll face about 20ft down the hill from just long, right of the pin.

Grant Horvat steps up and hits a beauty to around 12ft just long and left.

George Bryan is up last, and hits it right at the flag but it spins back hard into the water. Ouch.

LIVE VIEWERS UPDATE

Currently 83,000 people watching the YouTube live stream right now. Impressive.

Horvat and both Bryan Bros finish up with pars so it's Grant Horvat, George Bryan and Soly heading back to the 17th tee for the playoff.

FAT PEREZ BIRDIE ON 17!

Wow!!!

The Bob Does Sports man just holed from a good 40+ft on 17 down the hill from the back of the green. Incredible.

TRENT RYAN VS TPC SAWGRASS 17TH

SLOW PLAY

We are a good 2-and-a-half hours into play here on the 8th and final hole. Trevor Immelman agrees with me...

FINAL GROUP ON 17

Wesley Bryan finds the green, George Bryan just about finds dry land after spinning it back, Grant Horvat also finds the green before Fat Perez does the same. Four dry balls.

SOLY FOR BIRDIE ON 17

It just slides by but the No Laying Up man taps in for his seventh consecutive par and he's into the playoff.

A great recovery after double bogeying the 10th.

STEELE FOR PAR...

This really is a must-make now and it comes up just short. He had the line right but it just died to the right.

Soly has two putts to make it through.

WESLEY BRYAN BIRDIE

The PGA Tour winner has just birdied 16 for his first of the day, and he's moved up to T6th from 9th-place.

STEELE STRUGGLES WITH FIRST PUTT

Steele's first effort from the far right side of the green runs by a good 20ft. That was about as good as he could do but a bogey will likely see Soly through to the finale.

FINAL GROUP

Grant Horvat is in for bogey, so he's dropped to +1.

George Bryan pars and the pair are tied for the top, and surely safely through to the playoff.

Who will get the third spot? It's between Steele and Soly on the 17th green.

STEELE VS SOLY NOW FOR THE FINAL SPOT

Roger Steele up first on 17 and he's found the green and rolled off to the right, just past where the Sunday pin usually is.

Soly hits a beauty in there that spins back to the front of the green.

Advantage Soly, as Steele looks well in 3-putt country.

Gabby Golf Girl, who is T6th at +6, hits a gorgeous iron shot to within 8ft, just past the pin.

HORVAT ON THE WAY TO BOGEY

Horvat was actually up by the 16th in three, and his chip has gone well past so he's surely on the way to making a bogey and dropping back to +1.

WHAT WOULD AN AVERAGE GOLFER SHOOT AT TPC SAWGRASS UNDER TOURNAMENT CONDITIONS AND WITH A CROWD?

Well 15-handicapper Trent Ryan just shot 28-over for eight holes so good luck breaking 100.

WELL SAID...

SPIRANAC ON TRENT:

"That was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. It was like he won The Players Championship, everyone was rooting for Trent," Paige Spiranac says on the broadcast.

Trent has hit a lovely putt and looks set to finish up with a 10-11 closing two holes to end at 28-over-par.

TRENT RYAN HAS STOLEN THE SHOW

STEELE AND SOLY UP NEXT

Roger Steele and No Laying Up's Soly will be up next on 17 and they're tied at +2 so it's going to be a fairly tense afair.

Horvat is up by the 16th green in two so looks set to top the standings after eight holes. I haven't seen where George Bryan is but assume he is on the way to making par or birdie at the par 5 too.

CROWD GOING WILD FOR TRENT RYAN

After his 9th shot (I think) finds the green, the crowd go wild.

If he two-putts, which is quite a big if, I think that will be an 11 to sign for a 28-over-par eight-hole total.

I must say I did enjoy that, and he is now signing autographs for fans on the way to the green.

We're sure to see a fair few viral clips on social media tonight.

ROGER STEELE BIRDIE

Steele birdies 16 as playing partner Chris Solomon fist pumps his 6th-consecutive par.

TRENT ON 17...

Kyle Berkshire finds the green with his 3rd on 17 as Trent misses the green again, this time coming up short.

He's reaching for another ball.

His 5th shot misses the green by some margin to the right.

Now we're onto shot number 7.

This one goes long!

His 9th shot is now coming up and he finds the green!

FIRST GROUP REACHES 17...

Kyle Berkshire stands up first in front of a huge gallery and he is the first to find the water, missing just left.

He surely won't be the last.

Tisha Alyn safely finds the green.

Trent up next...

The Fore Play man, fresh off of a 10 on 16, misses the green left by a good 15 yards. Never looked close.

WHAT A SHOT FROM ROGER STEELE!

The big-hitter says "I got lucky there" but he's just found the 16th green from over 250 yards to set up an eagle chance!

A birdie will give him a great shot at making the playoff.

TRENT'S SHOT FROM EARLIER...

BERKSHIRE DOUBLE

The long drive champ has just made a double at the par 5 16th and he is going to drop down into 7th-place.

He looks very disappointed.

TRENT MAKES 10

The Fore Play man taps in for a 10 at the 16th and he falls to 21-over-par for his first seven holes.

...he has the 17th up next.

GREAT PLAY FROM HORVAT

He hits a 'bleeder' down the fairway on 15, that travelled 290 yards, and he's just hit a gorgeous iron shot into around 15ft.

THE SCENE OF TRENT'S NEAR-AIR SHOT ON 16...

Thankfully he didn't hurt himself, as he slipped and hit his ball further into the face of the hill.

TRENT JUST CHUNKED IT...

He's now hit six shots (I think) on the par 5 16th...and he's taken a couple of big chunks out of the course over his last two shots.

He might be about to make a 10.

TRENT'S STRUGGLES CONTINUE...

He's just pretty much had an air shot after slipping on a shot that was at the bottom of a hill.

His next shot, his fifth, lays him up nicely on the par 5 16th and he's on his way to another triple bogey.

"I thought I broke my left ankle," he said.

TRENT'S SCORECARD SO FAR...

A screengrab of Trent Ryan's scorecard at the Creator Classic

(Image credit: YouTube: PGA Tour)

BIG BIRDIE ON 15 FOR ROGER STEELE

He holes a superb putt from around 15ft that rolls end-over-end and drops right in the center.

Steele moves up to T4th with Kyle Berkshire.

HORVAT DROPS BACK

The leader remains atop the leaderboard but only leads by one after bogeying the 14th.

Elsewhere, Trent has just hit an iron off the long par 5 16th tee to the left side of the fairway as I'm not sure he could carry the water onto the fairway. The crowd absolutely loved his effort.

He has apparently hit it 139 yards and is 195 yards back of playing partner Kyle Berkshire.

Wesley Bryan's struggles continue, with the PGA Tour winner falling to five-over.

MEANWHILE AT 17...

Alejandro Tosti has just aced the par 3 17th and jumped into the water in his final prep for tomorrow's tournament!

CHRIS SOLOMON:

"I had a very, very tough start," Soly said.

"We're having fun still... All of a sudden the competition nerves are starting to flow through.

Having the time of my life."

TISHA ALYN QUAD

I told you earlier that she had hit a ball from the penalty area into the water and she's just ended up with a quadruple bogey at the 15th.

She's gone from T2 to 9th. Ouch.

It means that Soly is now solo-3rd and inside the playoff spots.

TRENT DROPS TO +16

He makes a triple at the 15th and he is now 16-over-par. Not quite sure how that happened.

A fan yells "Let's go Trent" and he duly acknowledges them with a big smile.

GRANT HORVAT'S BIRDIE ON 13...

ROGER STEELE DROPS BACK

The big-hitter found water off the tee on 14 and he's just holed a beautiful downhill, left-to-righter to save double. He drops back to +4.

SOLY FOR ANOTHER PAR...

Chris Solomon holes another clutch par putt!

That's his fourth consecutive par and he's now in good shape to make the final playoff.

TRENT FINDS THE GREEN

We've just seen Trent Ryan hit a golf shot for the first time in a good while and he's hit a lovely iron shot into the 15th. He and caddie Frankie are absolutely buzzing with that.

TISHA ALYN IN TROUBLE ON 15

I believe Alyn has hit a shot from inside the penalty area into the water so she's currently getting a ruling on where to take a drop. She's +1 at the moment but looks set to make a double bogey or worse by the looks of it.

BIG MOVES IN THE FINAL GROUP ON 13

Horvat now has a two-stroke lead after George Bryan makes bogey.

Wesley Bryan has just made double at the 13th to fall back to +4, while Fat Perez also falls to +4.

HUGE HORVAT BIRDIE!

Grant Horvat holes from around 30ft from just off the fringe at the 13th! He's the first player under-par today.

TRENT NOW 10 BACK OF 2ND-LAST

The Fore Play man is now 13-over-par after 5 holes and he's 10 shots adrift of Fat Perez and Gabby Golf Girl in T8th.

ANOTHER MISS FROM WESLEY

Wesley Bryan flails it out well right on 13 into the fans. Not great.

Fat Perez has just flown the green on the par 3 with a fairway wood.

'THAT SCARED ME'

Grant Horvat just hit a nice 5-iron onto the edge of the 13th and had a chorus of "LIGHT THE CANDLE" just after impact.

"That scared me," he says as his playing partners giggle.

Dan Rapaport reports that the vibes in this final group are very good.

WESLEY BRYAN +2

The 2017 RBC Heritage champion is two-over after three holes now and has some work to do to make the top-three playoff on 17.

I'm actually very excited to see these 10 competitors take on 17 in front of large galleries - surely there's going to be a fair few water balls.

SOLY FINDING HIS FEET

The No Laying Up podcast host rolls in another lovely putt inside 10ft and he's just gone par-par-par after that double bogey start. Good bounce back.

TRENT'S OPENING TEE SHOT...

"Fore!"

THOUGHTS SO FAR...

I must say I am enjoying this Creator Classic. The coverage is never going to be perfect but we're starting to see more shots and the on-course interviews are entertaining. I think Frankie, on the bag for Trent, just did a Fireball shot on camera and the Fore Play duo are in great spirits.

Horvat and the Bryan bros look to be playing the best and most confident golf.

And this is certainly showing just how good the world's best golfers are. The majority of the players are all around scratch handicaps and they're certainly struggling.

Trent is, I believe, a 15-handicapper and he's 10-over after four holes so what would a regular golfer shoot at TPC Sawgrass? We're finding that out.

TRENT IN GOOD SPIRITS

"I actually feel OK. My nerves were real heavy on the 1st tee," he tells Spiranac.

"It's a hard golf course for sure. I've got my guy Frankie here and we're getting through it."

GABBY GOLF GIRL BOGEY ON 12

That's a poor bogey from 55 yards out as the 17-year-old three-putts from inside 15ft.

Also Trent has now dropped to 10-over-par after four holes.

BIG PAR SAVE ON 13

Berkshire saves par on 13 after missing the par 3 green to the left. Great putt from a good 20ft.

Soly holes another good par at 12 to stay two-over.

BERKSHIRE'S BIG MISS

Remember I said he hit it MILES right earlier on 12? This was his drive...

TRENT'S STRUGGLES CONTINUE

I believe he's just about to double the par 3 13th and drop to eight-over-par after four holes.

He has a big smile on his face though so it's good to see he's still enjoying himself.

GABBY GOLF GIRL STILL TAKING THINGS VERY SERIOUSLY...

Gabby and her dad had a long conversation over a 55 yard pitch into the 12th.

She hit a lovely shot but even the commentary picked up on how long player and caddie took in discussions there.

Tron from No Laying Up commented on her pace of play earlier...

COVERAGE COMING UNDER FIRE

We seem to be missing quite a lot of shots here - I think I've only seen Trent once or twice for example and plenty of shots are being missed.

X seems to be unhappy with the lack of shots and the number of on-course interviews.

GABBY GOLF GIRL IS TAKING THIS SERIOUS

The 17-year-old has her dad on the bag and they are talking through every shot like a tour pro would.

She finds the fairway on 12 courtesy of another lovely drive.

TISHA BIRDIES 12

Superb birdie there on the short par 4 thanks to a lovely right-to-left putt that she's managed to roll in.

BERKSHIRE DOUBLE

The long drive king has somehow doubled the 12th, the short par 4 that he attempted to drive. That's not ideal and drops him back to two-over.

TRENT SHANK

SOLY ON 11

The No Laying Up man has holed a good 10-footer on the 11th to remain at two-over. That should settle the nerves.

BERKSHIRE ON 11

After a 354 yard drive, he has over 70 yards into the short par 4 after blocking his drive miles right. His wedge shot comes up just short.

Gabby Golf Girl taps in at 11 to start bogey-bogey.

PERFECT WEATHER AND BIG CROWDS OUT HERE

Gabby Golf Girl hits a tee shot at the Creator Classic

(Image credit: Getty Images)

HORVAT ON THE NERVES:

"I have never felt my heart beat that fast," Horvat says.

"I think that's the most people I've ever hit in front of. It was a great par to start out.

"It's opening my eyes to how thick the rough gets and hard they make the conditions."

MORE TROUBLE FOR PEREZ

Fat Perez hits his second consecutive snap hook on the 11th. Could be in more danger.

Luckily for him it is a par 5 so he may be able to advance it up the fairway and make his 5.

FAT PEREZ DOUBLES THE OPENING HOLE

The Bob Does Sports man made a six after hooking his first drive.

Wesley Bryan makes an opening bogey after finding the fairway bunker.

BERKSHIRE GOES FOR THE GREEN ON 12

From 360 yards... it's MILES right.

A LOOK AT THE CROWD FOR TRENT'S OPENING DRIVE

HORVAT ALMOST CHIPS IN

Horvat hits a stunning little chip from just off the back, left of the green that checks up and he easily taps in for par.

He and the Bryan Bros look to have started off the most confident here.

George Bryan is also in for par after a brilliant two-putt from long range.

KYLE BERKSHIRE'S SECOND HOLE

Shot 1: 350 yards down the middle

Shot 2: Pulled way left onto another tee box

Shot 3: Lovely wedge shot to 15ft

Shot 4: In the hole - birdie!

TRENT DROPS BACK

The Fore Play member has doubled the 11th so he's now five-over-par after two holes.

FIGHTING TALK FROM BRYAN AND STEELE

PEREZ IN TROUBLE ON THE OPENING HOLE

FP is taking a drop after hooking his drive well left. He'll bite your hand off for a bogey.

No Laying Up's Chris Solomon doubled the 1st, it has been confirmed. Roger Steele and Gabby Golf Girl both bogeyed, so nobody in the first two groups parred the opening hole.

FINAL GROUP UNDERWAY

Massive gallery for this group.

Grant Horvat, who gets a huge reception from the fans, pushes his drive up the right and just misses the fairway.

Wesley Bryan, who has played in The Players twice and is of course a PGA Tour winner, pulls his drive into the bunker left.

George Bryan just misses the fairway like Grant, where the rough looks to be very thick.

Fat Perez hooks it left into the trees.

SPIETH GIVING SOME PRE-GAME ADVICE TO TRENT RYAN:

CURRENTLY 45,000 VIEWERS

Big numbers on the YouTube live stream right now. Large galleries too.

Why didn't the PGA Tour do this years ago? It definitely seems like something we'll continue to see more of (there are two more Creator Classics lined up for this year)

BERKSHIRE WITH DRIVER ON 11

Wow, he went for that. The three-time World Long Drive champion carries it 347 yards (!) straight down the middle of the fairway.

TRENT TRIPLED THE OPENING HOLE

Ouch. The Fore Play man made a seven on the opening hole and has work to do over the next seven holes to remain within touching distance.

ALYN ALSO BOGEYS

Tisha Alyn also bogeys the 1st, like Berkshire.

Not sure how Trent is getting on but he is also struggling for bogey... I think.

SECOND GROUP UNDERWAY

The big-hitting Roger Steele goes left with a fairway wood.

Soly from No Laying Up appears to hit a snap-hook left that bounces off of a tree to the joy of the crowd.

Gabby Golf Girl finds the fairway with a piped drive.

Up on the green, Kyle Berkshire has just tapped in for bogey.

GEORGE BRYAN FAVORITE FOR THE TITLE

(Thanks to these mock odds)

TRICKY START FOR TRENT

Trent was apparently happy to just get it off the tee according to on-course reporter Paige Spiranac and he's found a bunker with his 2nd shot.

Spiranac says the 1st group were all very nervous on the 1st tee, with Alyn saying she couldn't feel her hands.

JAY MONAHAN IN THE HOUSE

The PGA Tour commissioner, who held a 50+ minute press conference yesterday, is out on the 1st tee to take in the atmosphere.

TODAY'S FORMAT

A screengrab of the Creator Classic format

(Image credit: YouTube: PGA Tour)

BIG CROWDS FOR THE OPENING GROUP WHO GET US UNDERWAY

We're ready to go here and there's a huge gallery surrounding the 10th tee.

Three-time World Long Drive champion Kyle Berkshire is first to get us underway on the dogleg-left par 4.

Berkshire pulls an iron shot well left into the trees.

Barstool Sports' Trent Ryan, who made it into the field via Barstool's qualifier, slices his drive right into the trees on the other side of the fairway.

Tisha Alyn, a former collegiate and Epson Tour player, splits the fairway with a beautiful drive.

TODAY'S ORDER OF PLAY...

  • 4.15pm ET: Kyle Berkshire, Trent Ryan, Tisha Alyn
  • 4.27pm ET: Roger Steele, Soly, Gabby Golf Girl
  • 4.39pm ET: Grant Horvat, Wesley Bryan, George Bryan, Fat Perez

A REMINDER OF THE FORMAT

We've got a ten-player shootout over eight holes this afternoon at TPC Sawgrass, with the action taking place from holes 10-17.

Once all groups have finished their eight holes, the top three competitors will battle it out in a sudden-death playoff on the 17th to crown the Creator Classic trophy.

STARTING SOON

Excited for the Creator Classic? The first tee time is in just five minutes' time.

There's currently over 8,500 people waiting for the live stream on YouTube and there's sure to be a packed crowd for what is going to be an entertaining event.