The golf world sits at a crossroad where a generational divide is splitting the PGA Tour, and the battleground isn’t the fairway. It’s YouTube. Akshay Bhatia, the young pro, is championing new media, while Rory McIlroy remains a staunch traditionalist.

“Only a couple of things: I think I can help grow the game, whether it’s some YouTube stuff or just different things where people can really see our personalities,” said Akshay Bhatia when asked about his growing influence on Tour direction at the Genesis Invitational. “Any talk I’ve had with Brian Rolapp has been mostly about that, and I leave the bigger stuff up to all the bigger guys.”

Bhatia’s influence is steadily growing. He had a two-shot lead going into the final round of the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, ultimately finishing sixth. He then carried that form straight to Riviera, where he sits tied for fifth after round 1 at 3-under 68. He sits two shots behind McIlroy, who has a completely different opinion on YouTube Golf.

“Not really. I’m not of that generation. I’d much rather watch pure competition; I’d much rather watch this tournament on Saturday and Sunday than watch YouTube golf. I’m happy for the people that enjoy it, but I enjoy something else,” Rory McIlroy said at the PLAYERS Championship 2025 about the YouTube generation.

The shift to incorporate YouTube in the PGA Tour is already underway. The Tour has organized the Creator Classic twice now and even has a Creator Council of the top 10 golf influencers. The aim of both of these was to reach a younger audience. One can argue that the younger generation might not sit for 6 hours to watch a single round of golf, but they may see a quick round or an event that only lasts for 2 hours.

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Isn’t this why TGL was launched, too? The fans get to see pros unwind and even throw some dance moves (see Tony Finau pull off a stunning dougie here ), something that we don’t get to see during 4 days of gruesome competition. When on the greens, the fans see their favorite pros locked in to take the hefty check home.

Even Rolapp’s broadcast philosophy makes clear why Akshay Bhatia’s pitch is right in its own accord. CBS Sports president David Berson, speaking about his early discussions with the new CEO ahead of the 2026 season, outlined the direction Rolapp is pushing, and it is fan-centric.

“A lot of our conversations about content innovation and coverage innovation revolve around access and what we can do to continue to tell better stories,” Berson said. “Yes, we want to show as much golf as possible, but context and storytelling are critical for fans.”

We also see the walk-and-talk now during the events, where players are interviewed between shots during a live round. It has become a regular feature and gives people an insight into the pro’s mindset, showcasing their personality. Berson noted it would have been considered “sacrilegious” 10 or 15 years ago, but now players expect it.

Rolapp, who spent two decades at the NFL overseeing media rights and running NFL Films, was brought in to build that same access-first culture in golf. Bhatia’s request for more YouTube content and a stronger social media presence is essentially the same idea, just moved from broadcast to the screens where younger fans actually spend their time.

The young pro isn’t just pitching ideas from the sidelines; his recent performance proves he has the competitive grit to back up his vision for the Tour’s future.

Inside PGA Tour pro Akshay Bhatia’s competitive mindset

Akshay Bhatia’s recent performance shows that he is not just trying to get attention; he is also thinking about how to improve his game. He said his round at Genesis was pretty stress-free, and he was able to control the ball well even though it was windy and rainy. That focus on execution shows that he measures progress by being consistent.

His thoughts on Pebble Beach make that mindset even clearer. Bhatia mentioned that he would change only two shots from the last round, but he did not mention which ones. This suggests that he was more concerned with the process than the result.

The close call also made him more confident. When you put everything together, it’s clear the player is balancing modern engagement ideas with a traditional performance lens.