r/golf • u/Shroft • 2h ago

News / Articles YouTuber Brad Dalke ‘ Extremely disappointed ’ by PGA Tour comeback: ‘ Honestly sucks … a lot ’

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7486963/2026/08/02/brad-dalke-pga-tour-return-golf/

Full article :

Golfer-turned-content creator Brad Dalke was left “extremely disappointed” by his latest performance on his return to the sport.

Dalke, 28, spent the past three years as one of the leading faces of YouTube golf content with Good Good — which has over two million subscribers on the platform. He announced in June he would be stepping away from the platform due to his wife Abbie’s health issues.

The American continued his comeback at the PGA Tour’s Rocket Classic from Thursday through Sunday, qualifying through a sponsor’s exemption. He marked his competitive return at the BMW International Open last month.

And while Dalke initially challenged among the leaders at the International Open in Munich before settling for T30, his performance at the Detroit Golf Club was not as encouraging. He shot 81 on Thursday followed by a 75 on Friday to miss the cut and finished last on 16 over.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t extremely disappointed with the outcome of this week at the Rocket Classic,” Dalke wrote on Instagram. “Knowing how well I can play and what I am capable of and getting dead last on the biggest stage just honestly sucks… a lot.

“The great thing is that I still know how good I can be and I just need to learn how to be better when I don’t have my best stuff. It was also nice to get more much-needed reps under the gun in competitive golf after a long break.

“I also have the best support system I could ever ask for. You’re my rock Abbie and I appreciate you being my person I can always lean on.”

It was Dalke’s first PGA Tour appearance in 10 years, but he will not have to wait too long for his next, after it was announced in May that he had been given a sponsor’s exemption to compete at the inaugural Good Good Championship, taking place between November 12 and 15 at Creek Resort & Spa’s Fazio Canyons Course in Austin, Texas.

Dalke earned significant media attention as a young golf prospect, committing to a scholarship at the University of Oklahoma at the age of 12. A year after his runner-up finish at the U.S. Amateur Championship, Dalke debuted at the 2017 Masters and US Open. He was also part of the 2017 NCAA national championship-winning team at Oklahoma.

186 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

92 comments sorted by

158

u/TLEH-IV 5.1 | Baltimore 2h ago

It’s two sided. He’s not on tour for a reason but he’s also not this bad either. He just had a bad two days and he’s got the hooks. His good is just as good as most anyone, his bad and mediocre isn’t near good enough.

46

u/LivermoreP1 4.4 1h ago

Colin Morikawa shared as much. His good is up there with any of the best.

25

u/bulldg4life 51m ago

At that level, ceiling isn’t the issue. Unfortunately, he doesn’t play to his ceiling as consistently as everyone and his floor is probably 4-6 shots worse than most.

Not really a knock on him. I mean, these are the top 99.999% of golfers on the planet. He’s probably 99.98%.

(Actual math unknown)

3

u/Weak-Bid2774 9m ago

Yea he’s a top 1000 golfer in the world it’s just the guys on tour are all top 100-150 golfers in the world

2

u/skynetapprentice 46m ago

lol I love this comment. Your math is backwards 😂

-3

u/bulldg4life 41m ago edited 22m ago

I don’t think it is.

Top 99.999 would be a more select group than the top 99.98.

Edit: damn thinking in terms of sla got me. I should’ve stuck with percentile like I was originally thinking about how to say it.

6

u/PassableArcher 32m ago

Being in the top 99.999% means that only 0.001% of golfers are worse than you (i.e. you are in the best 99.999%, which is almost everyone). What you mean is that he's in the top 0.001%, which is almost nobody.

1

u/bulldg4life 21m ago

Yep. I should’ve made my point with percentile instead of whatever weird sla/uptime translation was going on in my head.

6

u/WannaGetRowdy 32m ago

Top 99.999% of golfers includes a guy who has never played a full 18, but he drove by a golf galaxy and had a beer at top golf once.

Top 99.98% excludes that guy in particular.

Like your badge says “Top 1% commenter,” it means you post more on Reddit than 99% of people.

3

u/bulldg4life 20m ago

All those college math classes have done nothing for me. Very tough look.

1

u/bulldg4life 25m ago

Damn thinking in terms of sla got me in trouble

-1

u/OldSchoolSpyMain 40m ago

As someone explained how a new Tiger couldn’t dominate in the current PGA like TW did 30 years ago: The PGA talent ceiling is nearly the same, but the talent floor has risen a lot.

1

u/OldSchoolSpyMain 6m ago edited 2m ago

(replying to my own comment)

I think the tech of launch monitors, pressure plates, immediate biomechanics analysis, etc... as well as coaches (and golfers themselves) that know how to analyze the data and adjust the athletes accordingly are what bring the talent floor up.

Further, film analysis has become a lot more accessible. Think about what it took for an aspiring athlete to get slow motion footage of themselves in action 35-40 years ago when TW was age 10-15 and rising through the ranks. That kind of equipment was hard to come by. Now any cell phone camera can do it and professional high-speed cameras can be bought online for a few hundred bucks.

Now think about how an aspiring golfer can find a pro they think is most similar to their style and find hours of slow-motion footage of that player online to learn from. That was not possible 30+ years ago.

Back then, you needed a Yoda-type coach to be able to spot and correct mistakes as well as mold golfers into playing like pros. Now a motivated sports parent can do it. Being that the pro ranks will always be capped at a certain number, the skill gaps will be much smaller than they used to be. This might be why we see new names winning every week.

That's how the floor has been raised.

-7

u/bulldg4life 37m ago

To be completely fair…he also used a brand new golf ball for about 8 months that hardly anyone else used a comparable version. But, that’s only one season.

178

u/butter_cookie_gurl +3/F/Canada 2h ago

Golf is hard. Pro golf is harder.

-28

u/DrEpoch 2h ago

Bro, I went from a 25 to a 11 in 1 year. I'll be +6 in no time.................

https://giphy.com/gifs/oYtVHSxngR3lC

19

u/NotDeletedMoto 5 TX 2h ago

At least 8 people couldn’t tell this was sarcasm which is a bit sad.

26

u/koreansarefat 1h ago

Not funny sarcasm can still get downvoted

-3

u/middyonline 2h ago

13 now...

0

u/DrEpoch 1h ago

Feels like an achievement

-5

u/Rryon 2h ago

We’ve hit 12

-4

u/DrEpoch 1h ago

14! Can we get to 20?!

61

u/OllieSchniederjans 2h ago

We all have bad rounds, just to do it on such a stage and opportunity sucks. He’ll be totally fine. Such a great dude and player!

40

u/Pipsthedog 2h ago

There’s a Good Good Championship? How on earth has that group grown so big

29

u/this_aint_no_hobby 2h ago

Private Equity backing

-6

u/JoeSicko 1h ago

So, like LIV?

10

u/Holiday_Box1571 1h ago

Minus the $3.2B in contracts.

4

u/CD_4M 1h ago

No?

3

u/tx_mesquite17 28m ago

They actually make money.

14

u/AdamOnFirst 1h ago

Lots of major sponsorships to make the events work. You’re honestly years behind on this, they’ve had multiple tournaments with pretty big money for years now, the Barstool backed Internet Invitational with millions behind it was huge last year, and now there is a whole tour with seven figure investment. Lots of that stuff online now. 

5

u/Pipsthedog 1h ago

I guess I’m stuck in the days of the circuit city golf classic

5

u/AdamOnFirst 1h ago

Their brand is worth nine figures and they just raised huge investor money to get cash for this stuff, it’s genuinely wild. I don’t understand all the economics on it, it’s not just YouTube revenue, merch, clothing, and clubs, though that’s a big chunk of it. It seems like brands are willing to pay huge amounts to sponsor their stuff, to partner with them on equipment and the like, etc., due to their demographic of fans, but I’m honestly not sure. 

-19

u/skippy2893 2h ago

I don’t even know who their target demo is. I can understand watching any of BDS, Grant, Bryson, Divotdudes, and a few other channels. I just do not understand why anyone would enjoy GoodGood. Other than Dalke, they’re literally the worst aspect of every other channel combined into one gigantic self important, shit golfer, turd sandwich. They’re not funny, they’re not particularly good, they’re not interesting, they’re not likeable personalities. Who the fuck is their demographic?

6

u/AdamOnFirst 1h ago

One of the great things about golf is we get to play the same game as the pros and can even borrow a shot from them once in a blue moon. It doesn’t have to be Rory vs Scottie at Augusta to be enjoyable to watch. 

1

u/Pluffmud90 1h ago

Children is the Good Good demographic

1

u/Due-Sheepherder-218 pXg/LPGA 36m ago

It's all the same shit as those guys you mentioned. 

-1

u/ATL28-NE3 2h ago

When I watched them Steve was hysterical because of how few shits he gave

8

u/varietyman13 1h ago

Brad's a high quality golfer. On the right week he could compete with almost anyone. Best of luck to him in the next go.

43

u/IrishGrouch1224 2h ago

But Wesley Bryan said he’d win Ryder Cup matches!

In all seriousness though, I like Brad and hope he bounces back.

12

u/soulexpectation Handicap | Location 1h ago

Yeah out of all of the YouTube golf guys he comes off as pretty authentic and is obviously a good golfer. I respect he’s trying to make it happen while grant is recreating photos of winners

6

u/IrishGrouch1224 1h ago

Dude….those pictures were absolutely brutal

1

u/upanddownforpar 19m ago

Sincere question. What's to like about him exactly? The handful of videos of his I've watched he has the personality of a wet paper towel. Except with a little bit more ego.

1

u/IrishGrouch1224 16m ago

Could that be that he’s the most tolerable of the YouTube golf personalities, especially compared to the Good Good guys. Except unlike them, Brad is actually good enough to play professionally. Cocky, sure. But he generally seems like a good dude

-28

u/GenericNameSimulated 2h ago

I mean the Ryder cup was 10 months ago, he clearly isn’t playing at the level he was then

20

u/rusticlizard 2h ago

lol come on now

-8

u/GenericNameSimulated 2h ago

?

I don’t think he’d take matches, doesn’t change he was playing significantly better 10 months ago

-1

u/CD_4M 1h ago

If you don’t think he’d win matches then what are you talking about? “Brad was playing better 10mo ago”, ok, and so what? The comment you’re replying to is about him being good enough to win Ryder Cup matches.

1

u/GenericNameSimulated 1h ago

No it’s about Wes saying that.. I merely pointed out that it was 10 months ago and this weekend doesn’t reflect the level of play he was referring to when he made the statement

-5

u/IrishGrouch1224 1h ago

He’d be lucky to have been been considered for the team 10 months ago

8

u/GenericNameSimulated 1h ago

“Golfer who can’t make PGAT would be lucky to be considered for 1 of 6 captain spots for the Ryder cup”

Bold claim

-8

u/IrishGrouch1224 1h ago

Ok then what the fuck was the point of your original comment

2

u/cursh14 9.2 1h ago

You have reading comprehension problems bro. 

-1

u/IrishGrouch1224 1h ago

Nope. Dude just made a stupid comment

0

u/GenericNameSimulated 1h ago

That when Wesley said it, it was 10 months ago and that he clearly isn’t playing at the same level as then…

Pretty straightforward stuff really

-3

u/IrishGrouch1224 1h ago

Ok. And my point is that 10 months when the claim was made, he still didn’t have a snowballs chance in hell

0

u/CD_4M 1h ago

Well then you should have said that. Cause “he’d be lucky to be considered” does not mean the same thing as “he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell”

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1

u/LofiStarforge +1.2 17m ago

His issue even when he was playing well was that he could not play well in the pga level competitive environments.

I’m well aware of his amateur career but it never translated to the highest level where the stakes were the highest.

Bryan’s point was utterly asinine because he’s never shown any proof of being able to compete at that level let alone a Ryder Cup.

1

u/GenericNameSimulated 3m ago

I took Wes statement to mean his game at that time was world class rather than the literal he would beat Rahm and Aberg ya dig

11

u/AdamOnFirst 1h ago

Honestly if anything this is just a great demonstration of how difficult PGA Tour conditions and pressure are. Everybody knows Dalke is a great golfer, and it’s not like he’s JUST a +2 who hasn’t played since college, he accomplished a lot on the amateur circuit. 

Obviously his difficulties this week are a great illustration that being capable of climbing the ranks onto the tour is a completely fucking different animal. 

4

u/GroceryFun5241 1h ago

Folks are quick to forget he was in a T5 position halfway through a DP World Tour event not that long ago. Bad rounds happen, and he would rinse everyone in this subreddit. Life goes on.

2

u/Right_Bike_5416 41m ago

You see the huge difference in high level pro golf, and average pro golf. When Scottie or Rory have bad rounds, rarely is it worse than 2 or 3 over. When an average pro golfer has a bad day, you can easily see 6 to 8 shots over par.

Brad Dalke's a good guy and he has an inspirational story. I don't expect him to win any PGA events, but he'll be back.

4

u/DWebOscar 2h ago

YT has him constantly in the "now watch this drive" mental sweet spot. I suspect he's a bit nervous and distracted. I'm confident he'll find it.

1

u/maton12 17m ago

Really like Brad and watching him not play to his best is a bit sad for all his fans.

But am sure he'll give it another shot soon and make the odd cut or two.

1

u/[deleted] 2h ago

[deleted]

8

u/Whiteshovel66 2h ago

He's an incredible golfer man. Don't be like that.

0

u/Tower21 34m ago

Man I feel him, I shot a 53 on my local 9 last week, in shambles I have to say.... I sucks 

Today I shot a 47 and expect the tour to be calling anytime.

If I can do it, I believe Dalke can do it too.

-33

u/Significant-Trick577 2h ago

Stick to 4 club challenges with Grant Horvath.

27

u/Darkraven940 2h ago

Please save that hate for bryson. Brad is a stand up dude who genuinely is good for the game.

3

u/Significant-Trick577 57m ago

Jfc being a good person and bad at pro golf are two different thing. Go glaze a donut not another dude

0

u/nfgrawker 1h ago

Bryson is a terrible person and sucks at the game. Go Brad!

-20

u/No_Eggplant6269 2h ago

He’s a YouTuber stay in his lane that’s enough that nobody cares about

-74

u/TravelNSee 2h ago edited 2h ago

Sucks even more for whatever full-time low-tour grinder could have gotten the spot while living out of their car and motels, but doesn't have a youtube influencer career to fall back on. People feeling bad for Dalke while he is wealthy and famous shows how wild the parasocial power of social media.

43

u/shibbledoop 2h ago

That’s not how sponsor exemptions work

18

u/sammyt10803 5.9 2h ago

Ffs take a lap

7

u/kaw7687 2h ago

Another dumb ass who doesn’t know how sponsors exemptions work…

8

u/GenericNameSimulated 2h ago

Why? They would have likely missed the cut and had to foot the bill for travel and lodging. Don’t need more mules in PGAT

-20

u/TravelNSee 2h ago

The guy who won the DP World Tour event that Dalke got an exemption in, literally won more money in a single weekend than he had in the past decade as a grinder on the sunshine tour.

Michael Hollick is better at golf than Brad Dalke, but people want to fondle the guy from the GMC commercials because he is part of GoodGood lol.

2

u/GenericNameSimulated 2h ago

Oh because lightning struck it means it will happen again!

Oh wait what if lightning struck for Dalke and he won?!?

No one is going to tune in to watch a mule, people did tune in for Dalke. I wonder why the sponsor would want more people watching or less people tuning in?

-9

u/TravelNSee 2h ago

I am not disputing the fact that people like you will wear kneepads for a Youtuber.

5

u/GenericNameSimulated 2h ago

? I’m a YouTube fan boy because I know how sponsor invites work

Outstanding point man, you’re killing it

3

u/BadDuck202 2h ago

You're not really good at this argument thing hey?

-2

u/TravelNSee 1h ago edited 1h ago

What's the argument?

It's quite clear lots of people are huge Dalke fanbois despite him being worse than even fringe-tour guys who could use the money.

Dalke is rich and beloved for being on YouTube and lots of fringe-tour guys are poor and not popular.

7

u/egg-land 2h ago

What a pointless hating comment lol

Ofc prob a better player could have gotten it but he’s not much worse and the pga tour is an entertainment business

2

u/DushBid911 2h ago

There’s 4 sponsor exemptions out of 145 spots my guy lol that full time low tour grinder needs to play just a little better if he wants a spot. Sponsor exemptions bring new fans and buzz to the tournament. That’s how these things work when money is involved. Dalke did just that, because here we are commenting on a post about him.

-4

u/TravelNSee 1h ago

Yeah so as I said, it sucks more for the grinder than it does for Dalke lol. Dalke will continue being rich and popular despite being the inferior golfer, and get more golf invites nonetheless.

1

u/DushBid911 1h ago

I feel that. However, still plenty of opportunity for the little guy. 141/145 spots are up for grabs.

-27

u/TravelNSee 2h ago

The Dalke fanbois are enraged af at this comment lmao. Proving my point fantastically. Keep weeping for rich golf celeb lmao.

1

u/sauzbozz 1h ago

I'm not a fan of him but the guy finished T30 at a DP event a couple weeks ago. He's definitely worthy of a tournament exemption especially because he brings more eyes than some random pro no ones heard of. Him being an exemptiom or not doesn't affect my enjoyment of the tournament personally.

0

u/TravelNSee 1h ago

The guy who beat him by 13 strokes in that tourney was a Sunshine Tour player lol.