Grant Horvat built The Q at Myrtle Beach for exactly this reason. This was the only format that worked on his terms after he rejected two PGA Tour starts over filming restrictions. He led by four after four holes and still lost it. But what followed wasn’t bitterness.

“I think, for me, what I really take away from that entire Myrtle Beach Q-School and losing it is that I was so happy for Ryan that he was actually able to play in a PGA Tour event,” Horvat said on the podcast Dan on Golf on June 12, 2026.

He then remembered the last round, riding in the same cart as Ruffels, jumping out to a four-shot lead after four straight birdies. “The thoughts that go through your head are that this is yours to lose. That’s the only thought going through my head,” he said.

Horvat made four consecutive birdies to open his round and had a four-shot lead. But three bogeys before the turn let Ruffels back in. On the back nine, Ruffels stayed bogey-free and birdied 14 and 16, while Horvat bogeyed 17 and doubled 18. Final scores: Ruffels 1-under 71, Horvat 1-over 73.

On that final tee shot at 18, Horvat said: “I really wasn’t too nervous. I was actually feeling really confident in that moment, but I pulled it left into the water.”

Well, the American golfer’s loss had extra context because he had already walked away from a PGA Tour start twice before. After winning the Creator Classic 2 in March 2025, the PGA Tour handed him a sponsorship invitation, which he declined. Then came the Reno-Tahoe Open invite, which he also turned down after the Tour refused to let his camera crew film his rounds. The Q at Myrtle Beach was the one format where competing and filming could happen together. It was essentially his only realistic shot at a PGA Tour start on his own terms, and he lost it by one shot on the final hole.

That poor shot cost him the spot, but it didn’t cost him his POV on who won it. And it was Ryan Ruffels. Horvat was genuinely happy watching him compete at that level again and said so openly.

Ruffels made the most of that spot. At the $4 million ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, he carded rounds of 67, 70, 72, and 70 for 279, five under par, and finished T45.

This tournament is the third edition of The Q. Matt Atkins won it in 2024, followed by Nathan Franks in 2025. Horvat has organized and competed in all three, but has won neither.

Whether that holds the next time he takes a four-shot lead into the back nine is another matter.

Of course, Horvat’s life has gotten equally unpredictable lately.

The Navy SEAL moment that left Grant Horvat speechless

Grant Horvat’s reach has grown to a point where he now draws crowds that require actual security. On one occasion, that security came in the form of a Navy SEAL assigned to his detail, which sounds straightforward until you hear what happened at the rental house.

The SEAL asked if he should clear the property. Before Horvat could even respond, the door was already open, and the man was inside. What nobody told him was that someone was already there, sleeping.

The 27-year-old recalled hearing the SEAL yelling from inside the house. His friend Andrew and his wife had woken up from a deep sleep to a flashlight pointed directly at their faces, with no idea who was in their room.

“It was the most absurd thing,” Horvat said, laughing at the memory. He still brings it up with Andrew and his wife to this day.

He might have missed the PGA Tour and turned down invitations. But life beyond sports is fun for him.