YouTube golfer Rick Shiels and his Team Finch, captained by Peter Finch, were eliminated on Day 1 of Episode 2 of the 2026 Internet Invitational. However, the 40-year-old does not believe their exit was down to a lack of skill or a stronger opposition. Appearing on the Rick Shiels Golf Show recently, the Brit instead blamed the tournament’s mismanagement for his team’s early elimination.
“What you didn’t see… There was such a long delay from the first nine holes in the morning to the second nine holes in the afternoon,” he explained. “Massive delay. But then what they also did last minute [was] throw a real curveball in and interweave matches with the red and green team. So we had an original four hours. Like four hours delay.
“So we had an original tee time… We were like third out, let’s say, and went from like third out to being like 12th out… Oh my god. I think I warmed up three times, and it’s boiling. Middle of August in Missouri. It was a lot of dead space. Now, you don’t see that in the video, so it doesn’t really matter. And that’s part of production. Like, that’s just part of it sometimes. But I must admit, I just lost it a bit. I lost a bit… It just didn’t—adrenaline dump.
“After the first nine holes where we both played, I played great, and like, you remember those great shots. Felt like a new day. Like it felt totally different. I’d seized up a bit, this and that and the other.”
While Shiels’ account may well reflect what happened behind the scenes, there have been no independent reports confirming production delays during the event. The organizers behind the Internet Invitational, including Barstool Sports, Bob Does Sports, and Fore Play, have not reported any such disruptions on Day 1 (featured in Episode 2) of the tournament, which was filmed at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri for a $4 million purse.
That said, when it comes to production quality, Golf.com revealed the sheer scale of Barstool’s efforts to put the tournament together. More than 100 people were involved in the production, with 82 cameras capturing over 28 terabytes of footage. The crew had to review more than 800 hours of footage, while synchronizing the audio and video alone took five days.
Four separate editing teams also worked on different aspects of the content, covering everything from match footage and behind-the-scenes drama to promotional teasers and the final edits.
With that in mind, how exactly was Rick Shiels’ team eliminated from the competition?
Team Finch failed to prevail in a sudden-death alternate-shot playoff
Rick Shiels’ Team Finch faced Team Ruffels in the opening round. Following the morning scramble and afternoon alternate-shot sessions, the two teams were tied at 8–8, forcing a sudden-death alternate-shot playoff. On the second extra hole, Rick Shiels and Roger Steele represented Team Finch against Big John and Grant Horvat of Team Ruffels.
Big John eventually sank a birdie putt to win the hole and the match, eliminating Team Finch from the competition. Team Finch, however, wasn’t the only side eliminated that day. Team Dalke also suffered an exit after losing to Team Bryan, leaving only Team Ruffels and Team Bryan to advance to the next round.
Episodes 3 and 4 saw Team Ruffels extend their advantage over Team Bryan, winning the morning 2v2 scramble at Buffalo Ridge 6–2. The two sides then faced off in 16 individual nine-hole matches in the afternoon, with Team Ruffels securing a 12.5–6.5 victory to eliminate Team Bryan from the competition. Salim sealed the winning point by beating Kyle Forgeard.
With all 16 members of Team Bryan eliminated, the 16 surviving players from Team Ruffels were immediately redrafted into four teams of four for a sudden-death elimination round, setting up the next stage of the tournament.