Internet Invitational 2026: Full Roster and Release Date
Last updated: September 29, 2026
The 2026 Internet Invitational has officially been filmed, and while we don’t yet have a confirmed release date, it’s likely only a month or so until the first video drops. A few unconfirmed spots also still remain on the expanded roster, but we do have the bulk of the names, with a number of returning players from last year and plenty of fresh faces confirming their invites. We’ll continue to update this page as soon as fresh information comes to hand, but here are all the facts as we have them, with more detail below:
Venue: Big Cedar Lodge, Ridgedale, Missouri
Prize pool: $4 million
Field: Likely 64. The majority are confirmed
Release date: Not yet announced. Last year's dropped in late October.
On this page
Who is playing in the 2026 Internet Invitational?
Invitees to this year’s event were revealed one-by-one, with videos progressively surfacing on Instagram showing the participants opening their official Internet Invitational invite, complete with the following letter:
“We are pleased to extend to you a formal invite to compete in the 2026 Internet Invitational.
This private event will once again unite a carefully curated group of the best (or best of the worst) golf content creators in the world.
As the event draws closer, important details will be provided to you. Please remember the location and dates are strictly confidential.
We look forward to bringing together all of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the internet’s top golf creators and anticipate another exceptional tournament.
Regards,
Barstool Sports and Bob Does Sports”
Evan Thompson, Daniel Saloner (AKA Short Game King) and Hailey Ostrom were the first to kick us off, but they have since been followed by a lot more newbies in Sabrina Andolpho, Bobby Ray, the self-proclaimed German Hammer Martin Borgmeier, Tyler Toney, Karol Priscilla, Cass Marie, Taco Golf, Jersey Jerry, Seb Carmichael-Brown of Big Wedge Golf, Ryan Ruffels, Marissa Wenzler, Tisha Alyn, Luke Toomey (AKA Tooms), Big John, Kyle Forgeard, Max VanderAarde (AKA Cheddy) and Johnny Manziel.
Earlier this year, Portnoy also confirmed a couple of names who aren’t quite as recognisable will play - at least within the golf creator realm. Mixed martial artist Justin Gaethje was confirmed under the proviso that he doesn’t beat Dave up, while former NBA player and current Barstool employee Jason Williams will also head to the as-yet undisclosed location at an as-yet undisclosed time for the event.
That gives us at least 22 fresh faces in this year’s event, but plenty of last year’s inaugural members have also confirmed they will be involved. Josh Kelley and Daltoosh will play once again, as will BustaJack duo Mason Nutt and Cole Lantz, Andrew Santino, reigning champion Brad Dalke, Peter Finch, coach Jon Gruden, Josh Richards, Micah Morris, Fat Perez, Mac Boucher, Malosi and the most (in)famous Bushnell rangefinder known to man, Rick Shiels, Luke Kwon, Joey Cold Cuts, Roger Steele, Sara Winter, DOD King, Claire Hogle, Paige Spiranac and, to the chagrin of many and the delight of others, the Duke, whose video revealing his invite was about as interesting as you would expect.
With Fore Play trio Frankie Borrelli, Trent Ryan and Sam Riggs also confirmed as well as Bobby Berger and The Jet of Bob Does Sports, that gives us 49 confirmed names so far.
We’ve also had a couple of rumours circulating over the past few months, but unlike the above, these names are far from set in stone. Late last year, Portnoy said that he had invited two people to the second edition of the event already; WNBA star Caitlin Clark, and Kai Trump. Allegedly both said yes, but by Dave’s own admission, “I don’t know how serious the yeses are. Whether push comes to shove and those two are available to do it, who knows.” Numerous other names have also been mentioned but not yet officially confirmed, so we’ll leave those off the list until they’re locked in.
Will Grant Horvat and the Bryan Bros play in the 2026 Internet Invitational?
Horvat and the Bryan Bros are YouTube golf royalty, but they still remain notable absentees from the list of confirmed participants. All three of them played in last year’s event, but since then they have, of course, started up Your Golf Tour, which is basically going toe-to-toe with the Internet Invitational as the most popular event on the YouTube golf calendar (read our comparison of the two here - it’s both educational and funny).
With so many participants already confirmed it has appeared increasingly unlikely that the trio won’t be invited, with the development of their own YouTube tour seeming like the probable reason, but none of that was ever confirmed.
Interestingly, Bobby Berger of Bob Does Sports threw a spanner in the works early in August when he made an appearance on the Full Send podcast. On who would be the number one pick this year, Cheddy AKA Freezer Tarps AKA Max Vanderaarde began “Ruffels, Dalke…”, only to be interrupted by Bob, who suggested none other than Wesley Bryan.
As an organiser of the event, Bob clearly knows who is playing in it, so unless this was a real seniors moment for the 34-year-old, it’s a safe inference that Wes actuall will be playing in the event, contrary what was previously believed. And if Wes is playing, one would imagine George will be playing. And if George is playing, Grant…might be playing?
Why they haven’t yet officially confirmed it, who knows - maybe it’s a marketing stunt, or maybe they’re not actually playing and Bob just got confused. As yet, nothing is confirmed, but that’s where the speculation currently sits.
How many people are playing in the 2026 Internet Invitational?
The field size hasn’t been confirmed just yet, but while the 48 they had last year seemed like more than enough given the editorial challenge of formatting 24 individual 1v1 matches into a remotely coherent video, they’re going even bigger this year. Already, we are just about past 48 names with plenty of people who will very likely play having not yet officially confirmed, and Bob himself on the aforementioned podcast mentioned that the field would grow this year.
Last year, the field in its entirety was announced in early July, a little under four months out from when the first video was released. Obviously that timeline has been and gone, but with names continuing to pop up we’re getting an increasingly full picture of who will be playing in this year’s event.
Confirmed Names for the 2026 Internet Invitational
Here is the full list of 100%, bonafide, confirmed names for this year’s Internet Invitational’s, with player profiles available by clicking on the linked names.
Evan Thompson
Daniel Saloner (Short Game King)
Hailey Ostrom
Sabrina Andolpho
Tyler Toney
Karol Priscilla
Jason Williams
Josh Kelley
Daltoosh
Andrew Santino
Mason Nutt
Cole Lantz
Peter Finch
Jon Gruden
Cass Marie
Josh Richards
Micah Morris
Taco Golf
Jersey Jerry
Seb Carmichael-Brown
Mac Boucher
Ryan Ruffels
Marissa Wenzler
Malosi
Joey Cold Cuts
Tisha Alyn
Sara Winter
DOD King
Claire Hogle
Luke Toomey (Tooms)
Big John
Kyle Forgeard
Max VanderAarde (Cheddy)
Johnny Manziel
Bobby Berger
The Jet
Sam Riggs
Frankie Borrelli
Trent Ryan
When is the 2026 Internet Invitational?
As of the 29th of September, the 2026 Internet Invitational release date has not yet been confirmed. But as mentioned, we know that filming took place in August. This is similar timing to last year, and the first episode of the 2025 Internet Invitational came out right at the end of October. Expect a reasonably similar timeline this year.
Where is the 2026 Internet Invitational?
We know for close enough to certain that this year’s Internet Invitational will take place at Big Cedar Lodge once again. While this hasn’t been officially announced, back in June, one of last year’s winners in Francis Ellis let slip something he perhaps wasn’t meant to: “It’s at Big Cedar again. Same place.” Hard to misinterpret that.
Big Cedar Lodge has six courses in total on the property – three of which are par-3 only – but last year’s event took place on just three of them. The best among them is Payne Valley while Buffalo Ridge has also been ranked among the top 100 public courses in the USA, and the quirky par-3 Cliffhangers provided a point of difference midway through the event. Whether they stick to those three courses or add in any of the others – Ozark’s National Golf Course, or par-3 courses Top of the Rock and Mountain Top Course – remains to be seen.
What is the 2026 Internet Invitational Prize Pool?
The prize pool this year will be $4 million, a significant increase from the inaugural edition last year when the three winners were forced to split a measly $1 million – Dalke was only able to buy himself one single house with that. This year, winners can potentially buy themselves multiple houses. While we don’t know for sure whether there will be three winners once again this year, if the powers that be do choose to take that route once again, it would result in a handy $1.33 million per individual winner.
Last year we also saw Dave Portnoy throwing out side bets like they were going out of fashion, offering winners hundreds of thousands of dollars to replay the final hole of whatever game they had just won. They continually turned him down, so expect him to push even harder with potentially even larger sums of additional money to add to the drama this year.
While a few details remain unclear, we most likely don’t have long to wait until the 2026 Internet Invitational is released. This page will be updated continually as any new info comes to hand, so be sure to check back at ytgolftalk.com or follow us on Instagram or X/Twitter for all the latest names.
