The Feed: Hold on, the prize money for the next Internet Invitational will be how much??

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Welcome one and all to the final installment of The Feed in 2025. Because YouTube golf doesn’t have a sleepy fall season or a leisurely Hawaii Swing like the PGA Tour, there’s no need to look back at the year that was because the content simply never stops. So join us as we plow headlong into another week of golf goodness starting with …

The Internet Invitational 2.0

We all loved the Internet Invitational right? I’m sure there’s a few haters out there, but by and large Barstool Sports’ inaugural influencer Masters was a runaway success. It produced irresistible drama, great golf, authentic emotion and just enough stakes (see: the $1 million winner’s purse) to give the whole thing some gravitas. It hit the perfect sweet spot of just big enough to feel important and just small enough to feel like you were a part of something.

But this week Robby Berger, the namesake behind Internet Invitational co-hosts Bob Does Sports, joined the Good Good Golf podcast to discuss version 2.0. During his chat, he was asked about reports that Dave Portnoy wants to increase the purse for the next year’s edition TEN FOLD. As outlandish as that may sound, Berger did little to squash the rumor.

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Shortly after the final episode of the Internet Invitational aired, Portnoy floated the idea of increasing the prize money to $10 million for the competition’s next installment. Dave Portnoy says a lot of things, so at the time it felt like he was just throwing a number out there for clicks. Not according to Berger, though.

“A lot of times people say they’re going to do things and don’t really follow up,” he said. “But if there’s a guy who’s going to say it and hold to it, it would be Dave … so if Dave says it’s going to be $10 million, I think he’ll pull it off.”

Berger primarily addresses the question of “can Portnoy raise an additional $9 million.” The bigger question, however, is should he. As we’ve already established, the Internet Invitational was just low stakes enough to be cool and chill and fun, and just high stakes enough to keep us all tuning in. But if the purse really jumps 350 percent (someone check my math), it’s safe to assume the cool, chill fun will disappear like a Nathan’s Famous on the Fourth of July.

For comparison’s sake, in 2025 each member of the three-man winning team took home roughly $330,000 pre-tax. This proposed increase would see each member taking home over $3.3 million. In case you were wondering, Scottie Scheffler earned about $3.42 million for his 2025 PGA Championship victory.

Is it reasonable for YouTube golfers to be making major championship money?Capitalism would suggest yes, if the demand supports it, and more than 25 million views over the span of six episodes suggests there’s plenty of demand. But as Notorious B.I.G. once said, mo’ money, mo’ problems. Biggie wasn’t a fiduciary, but adding this much money to the mix this soon threatens to turn the Internet Invitational into the Arnold Palmer Invitational, only with A LOT more double bogeys. No average YouTube Jane or Joe will be yucking it up, complementing each other’s shots or supporting their partner after another bricked putt with $10 million actual U.S. dollars on the line. To me and many others, that was the heart and soul of the Internet Invitational. That’s exactly made what it so infectious.

But in the end, Dave Portnoy is going to Dave Portnoy. He was desperate to raise the stakes throughout the inaugural tournament, attempting to woo individual competitors into jeopardizing their team’s success with the promise of bigger payouts. No one took the bait, so now he wants to make the bait the main attraction.

Ultimately, it’s Portnoy’s tournament and his prerogative, and given his hit rate over the years, there’s no doubt he’ll find a way to make it financially successful. However, there’s plenty of Internet Invitational fans, myself included, who will be turned off by this. By all means, increase the purse and pay the players that make the event worth watching, but not at the risk of turning YouTube golf into the same top-heavy, money-obsessed monolith that pro golf has become.

Obviously, we’ll have to wait and see how it all shakes out, but for now the old adage holds true: Nothing gold can stay … especially when there’s actual gold involved.

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Quick Hits

Grant Horvat

At this point it’s fair to call Ted Scott a golf genie. Scott helped Bubba Watson—the same guy fighting LIV relegation right now—win two green jackets and was instrumental in turning Scottie Scheffler into the most dominant force golf has seen since Tiger Woods. Can he repeat the trick with Grant Horvat? Even a guru like Scott has his limits, but this one’s worth a watch if only to see how the best looper going works his magic.

Bob Does Sports

Bobby Fairways breaking 80? That may seem like a story straight from outer space, but we promise you it’s very real … well, the attempt at least.

Bryan Bros.

Jason Dufner makes his triumphant YouTube golf debut, squaring off against George and Wesley Bryan. Welcome to the big leagues, Duf.

Good Good Golf

The Good Good Golf road trip returns and this time it’s a rags-to-riches affair. The fellas cruise up the California coast en route to Pebble Beach. Along the way, they play several matches, and the winners get to ride in a $500,000 chauffeured Rolls-Royce and stay in stunning Airbnbs while the losers pack into a Fiat and sleep in tents in the backyard. If meritocracy are your thing, this will be too.

Good Good Girls

The Good Good Girls compete in their first tournament on the channel, the $100,000 Grass League Championship at Grass Clippings Rolling Hills. Rolling Hills—a renovated municipal par-3 course retro-fitted with lights for night play—is a great venue for YouTube golf and the six-figure purse really adds to the drama, so don’t miss this one.

Bryson DeChambeau

As we’ve already discussed at length, invitationals are all the rage right now. This week, Bryson DeChambeau gets in on the fun with the inaugural Reebok Invitational, which pits the two-time U.S. Open champ against Grant Horvat, Martin Borgmeir, the Bryson Bros. and some guy named Jimmy. Oh, and there’s also $100,000 on the line. Stop me if this is starting to sound familiar …

No Laying Up

Club Championship season was a few months ago, but No Laying Up are just getting the memo now. That’s OK though, because we all need something to watch in the bathroom while hiding from our in-laws this Christmas.

Skratch

Wanna watch Ludvig Aberg tell Ryder Cup stories while playing TPC Sawgrass? That’s a rhetorical question, folks.

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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com