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SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND, 20260715 Mark Darbon, new CEO of the R&A, during a press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz on Wednesday ahead of the British Open in Southport. SOUTHPORT ENGLAND x1019x *** SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND, July 15, 2026 Mark Darbon, the new CEO of the R A, during a press conference on Wednesday ahead of the British Open in Southport SOUTHPORT ENGLAND x1019x PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxDENxNORxSWExFIN Copyright: xChristerxHöglund/TTx BEFORE THE BRITISH OPEN
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SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND, 20260715 Mark Darbon, new CEO of the R&A, during a press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz on Wednesday ahead of the British Open in Southport. SOUTHPORT ENGLAND x1019x *** SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND, July 15, 2026 Mark Darbon, the new CEO of the R A, during a press conference on Wednesday ahead of the British Open in Southport SOUTHPORT ENGLAND x1019x PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxDENxNORxSWExFIN Copyright: xChristerxHöglund/TTx BEFORE THE BRITISH OPEN
What started in March 2025, when the PGA Tour introduced its three-event Creator Classic golf influencer series, is already beginning to feel like a thing of the past. The event was notably absent ahead of this year’s Players Championship, with the PGA Tour choosing not to stage it. Now, with The Open Championship just around the corner, R&A CEO Mark Darbon revealed on Wednesday at The 154th Open press conference that the organization has also decided against hosting a Creator Classic.
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“I certainly don’t think we’re a passive organization,” he said. “So we are proactively focused on how we grow our audience for this great championship that we stage, too. I’d say a few things, though. I think the activities we want to undertake at our Open specifically have to remain true to their heritage and standing of this great event. We could have chosen to stage a creator classic at the start of this week. We didn’t do that.
“We proactively sought to stage an event—in this case, the Last-Chance Qualifier—that was entirely aligned with the roots that we have for qualification into our event more broadly.”
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Darbon added that the organization plans to work with influencers and content creators across various platforms to broaden its appeal, but will not pursue initiatives that could compromise the championship’s heritage, prestige, or long-established reputation. This, of course, comes as the creator events have been gaining traction among fans.
According to a March report from Front Office Sports, the PGA Tour did not intend to make the Creator Classic an annual occurrence at its tournaments or the majors. So far, there have been four Creator Classics, featuring some of the most popular golf influencers and other celebrities, including Paige Spiranac, Grant Horvat, and Brad Dalke.
Typically, it is a live, made-for-TV showcase on the same course as the tournament, a day before the main event. According to Front Office Sports, the first Creator Classic took place ahead of the 2024 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta before the PGA Tour expanded it to three more events in 2025. The American tour has not yet decided what the future of the franchise will be.
However, the PGA Tour was happy with how the events played out, as they helped expand its relationship with YouTube, which sponsored the series. Its most recent broadcast streamed on YouTube, Golf Channel, and ESPN+, among other platforms. While the demand for the Creator Classic might be high, only time will tell how the PGA Tour and R&A decide to use it.
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Abhimanyu Gupta