Day 1 of the Internet Invitational is in the books, so it’s time to get judging. Who rose to the enormity of the occasion, and who melted under the undeniable pressure of (YouTube?) golf’s biggest tournament?
An important note: every one of these grades is based on expected performance, not actual output. If we were ranking these players purely on how they played, you could bank a bunch of them as A+ and a bunch as an F without even watching the videos. Wesley’s absolute worst day would still be a very good day for the vast majority of the field, and the reverse is true for The Duke.
Think of the scores like this:
A – exceeded expectations
B – met expectations
C – below expectations
D – well below expectations
E – even further below expectations
Without further ado, take a look at our grades for Day 1 of the Internet Invitational!
Big John: A+
No explanation needed here. Of course there is more to Day 1 than just one putt, but Big John played some impressive golf throughout anyway. The guy isn’t short of confidence, but he walked the walk in the most emphatic way possible to send his team through to Day 2. How that bizarre putter works is beyond me, but work it does.
Biz: C-
Not the most exciting day for Biz, who got pumped in both of his matchups. Not that much was expected of him given he was drafted at Pick 57, but he still didn’t set the world on fire and lost what could have been an important swing match against Cheddy and Kyle.
Bob Berger: A
Bobby Berger’s golf game may have been the most scrutinised in the lead-up to the Internet Invitational – you only need to check the comments section of our Meet the Players Instagram post about him. As if to rub salt in the wound, he was drafted exactly one spot behind Joey Cold Cuts, but Bob gave a big middle finger to all those who doubted him with a really good couple of rounds. Granted Wesley was the driving force behind both their wins, but they took a lot more of Bob’s shots than probably anticipated in the scramble session and he more than held his own during alt shot.
Bobby Ray: E
Bobby Ray has been on the receiving end of plenty of criticism after the first couple of videos, and I certainly don’t want to join the pile on. But as mentioned, these grades are based on expected performance, and by his own admission it wasn’t the greatest few holes of golf he’s ever played. The guy can clearly pump it and as he has reiterated many times, on his day can play to a pretty low handicap. I believe it, but Day 1 at the Internet Invitational was unfortunately not that day. Thanks to that putt, however, he gets a chance for redemption in the next video.
Brad: B-
One of the reigning champions and captain of Team Red, Dalke’s absolute worst is still better than just about everyone at this event. He was far from that, but he’s also capable of better and would have been disappointed not to pick up a win from his two matches.
Bubbie: B-
Bubbie and Marissa Wenzler went 0-1-1 from their two matches. One of those they probably should have won against Frankie and Francis, the other they were always up against it facing Finch and Kelley. Bubbie was okay for a guy picked at #37 in the draft, but certainly not at his best.
Callux: C
Expectations were low to say the least for Callux, who at pick 55 of 60 probably went a little early in the draft. He’s clearly not much of a golfer, but it’s hard to give him a half-decent grade when he lost 3&2 and 5&4, even if he and PFT were sacrificial lambs in the first of those.
Cass: B-
A mixed bag for Cass. Picked bang in the middle of the draft, she’s got a beautiful swing and absolutely pipes it, and did what she needed to do in the morning session against a throwaway team. Unfortunately she couldn’t back it up, beaten comfortably alongside JWill by a better team in Micah and Whit.
Chaz: B+
Chaz is an Internet Invitational specialist. He lit it up last year and was solid again on Day 1 this year, picking up a draw and a win with George Bryan against some decent opposition. He was again solid across the two episodes, though not as much of a standout as he was last year.
Cheddy: C
Bit of a weird one. Cheddy’s obviously not a great golfer, but he and Kyle did well to beat Biz and Yandle in a match either team could have won. But these grades are relative to expectations and somehow, Cheddy went pick #42, above guys like Gaethje, Daltoosh, even Bobby Berger! If I picked him at #42 and then aw that swing, I wouldn’t be thrilled.
Claire: A-
Claire was really solid in one of the funnest, most obscure pairings of the day alongside Sam Heung Min. For reference, she was picked immediately after Hailey Ostrom, who she played in one of her matchups, and was clearly the better player.
Cole: A-
A very solid day out for Cole Lantz. At Pick #15 expectations were reasonably high, but he delivered with two big wins against Garrett and Sara, who on paper could have expected to match it with them.
Daltoosh: A-
Also a pretty good day out overall for Daltoosh! He played some great shots alongside Taco in his drawn matchup in the first video, before absolutely cakewalking the dream team in PFT and Callux in the second. Highlights included a near hole-in-one on the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Par 3, which would have yielded him $500k. Instead he had to settle for a free Peanut Butter Cup.
DOD: B-
Every time I watch DOD swing a club, I think he’s going to be better than he is. It’s a beautiful swing. He’s a good player but not as good as his swing suggests – putting with a driver probably doesn’t help. He had a couple of entertaining matchups playing alongside chirpy Santino, but didn’t manage to notch up a win.
Evan: A+
In the tier list we posted on Instagram prior to this event, S Tier was reserved almost exclusively for the guys who have played on tour in some form, with Micah Morris the main exception. Evan Thompson might have to join the list. He was unbelievable. Granted it’s no surprise that he’s good, but I’m fairly sure he shot -6 through 7 essentially on his own on Day 1. Absolutely dominant.
Francis: B
Another of last year’s winners, Francis drew both his matchups, one of which he and Frankie would have expected to lose (against Marissa and Bubbie) and the other of which they should have won (against Bobby Ray and Gruden). All in all a solid but unspectacular day out.
Frankie: B
Could say just about exactly the same thing for Frankie. Played some good shots, sunk a couple of his favourite pressure putts, but didn’t manage to notch up a win.
Gaethje: A+
One of the surprise packets of the tournament. Gaethje went down at Pick #45 in the draft, which is a fair pick based on his swing but massive unders based on where the ball actually went. The man known as The Highlight certainly delivered on that nickname, hitting good shot after good shot and contributing far more than expected alongside his very talented teammates in Grant Horvat and Ryan Ruffels.
Garrett: C-
Garrett is a good player, but didn’t quite deliver for Team Red. He and Sara played Cole and Seb in both Day 1 suggestions, suggesting the captains thought it was a fair matchup, but they got beaten easily both times. Not entirely on Garrett, but if he played his best, particularly in scramble, they would have been a chance.
George: B+
A very solid day out for Georgey boy, who picked up a draw and a win alongside Chaz. You pretty much know what you’re going to get from the elder Bryan brother, and he delivered it.
Grant: C+
I wrestled over this one a little but we’ve got a lot of players being graded a B, so apologies Grant, you’re down to a C+. That bunker shot on the playoff hole will get overlooked in the wake of Big John’s putt but it was an awesome shot, particularly given the Whoop monitor suggested that Grant was on the brink of a heart attack. But prior to that, Grant wasn’t at his best. He was solid with Gaethje in the second round, but in the scramble he lost 4&3 to Finch and the Jet alongside Riggs and was a long way below what he’s capable of.
Gruden: B
Coach Gruden was a sacrificial lamb in the first round so it’s hard to judge him on that, but he played okay for his level in Round 2 alongside Bobby Ray to square Frankie and Francis in the match that set up the unforgettable playoff.
Hailey: C+
Hadn’t seen Hailey play too much before so didn’t entirely know what to expect. She was solid enough, but didn’t manage to pick up a win across either of her two matches.
Jake: A-
Jake played better than a lot of people who were drafted right around him. He lost a match, but it was a big mismatch alongside Salim competing against Rick and Joey, and they only just lost. He looked like a fairly solid player.
Jerry: B
Not too much to say about Jersey Jerry. He was drafted second last for good reason, and played like a guy who was drafted second last. The definition of Met Expectations, though that’s not necessarily a compliment.
Joey: C+
When Joey gets nervous he gets the duck hooks, and lo and behold, he hooked his first tee shot into oblivion. He hit a few decent shots but it was far from his best performance on the course.
Josh Kelley: B
Josh Kelley was the lowest drafted of the YGT guys, picked by Finch at #14. He played about as expected – he’s a really good player, but a level below most of the others on YGT with the exception of probably Roger. He was involved in a couple of good matchups, just losing to Ruffels and Gaethje, and just edging Marissa and Bubbie.
Josh Richards: B
The other Josh also played roughly as expected, though the expectations of Richards were substantially lower than those of Kelley. He picked up two wins, but he was paired with Tooms in the first video and Mason Nutt in the second, and it’s safe to say those two were more responsible for his wins than he was.
JWill: C+
JWill was a bit of an unknown coming into this, but for reference he was drafted at 43, just before Gaethje, Bob and Daltoosh. All of those guys looked like better golfers than the former basketballer, who went 0-2 in his two matches.
Karol: B
Karol was a victim of Evan Thompson’s unbelievable performance in the scramble, before she managed to tie that same duo with Dalke at her side in the afternoon. She was okay – clearly not as good as most at the event, though she was picked at #56 and is probably better than a few of the guys picked around her.
Kwon: A
What a redemption arc for Luke Kwon. After the infamous sleep-in saga last year, he ensured history wouldn’t repeat by sleeping on the first tee, before going out and playing some really good golf. He played Big John and FP twice and went 1-1, losing alongside JWill and winning alongside Malosi, but results aside, Kwon showed what he can do when he actually makes his tee time.
Kyle: C+
Another guy who wasn’t exactly the feature of the first two episodes, Kyle was involved in a couple of pretty low-quality matchups. He and Cheddy managed to win the first against fellow late picks in Biz and Yandle before getting unsurprisingly pumped by Mason Nutt, but Kyle didn’t exactly set the course on fire.
Mac: B
Mac had a couple of the better battles out there on Day 1, with him and Sabrina Andolpho drawing both their matches – first against Taco and Daltoosh, then Hailey and Tooms. The sling king has some prodigious ability at times despite what his endless self-deprecation would suggest, and definitely justified being picked in the top 20.
Malosi: B+
Malosi went one spot after Mac in the draft and, like his fellow public enemy from last year in Kwon, went steadily about redeeming himself on Day 1 of this year’s event. He won both his matches – though the first came against a throwaway team – and in the second paired up with Kwon to beat a very capable team in FP and Big John.
Manziel: D-
I enjoyed Manziel, he seemed like a nice dude, but he definitely didn’t play like a near-scratch handicap. He lost both his matches, admittedly against good teams, but he was picked just after guys like FP, Chaz and Martin, and ahead of Seb Carmichael-Brown, and didn’t play as well as any of them.
Marissa: B+
Solid as a rock. Marissa was the first female selected at pick #13 and showed why – she was super steady from start to finish, but it’s hard to give her an A given she didn’t win either of her matches. The second of those was understandable against Finch and Kelley, but she and Bubbie should’ve beaten Frankie and Francis.
Martin: B-
Martin is one of my favourite characters at this event. An oddball in the best possible way, he gets an A for watchability, but unfortunately could only contribute two losses to Team Blue’s cause. He was in reasonably high-quality matches and didn’t exactly play badly relative to expectation, but it’s hard to justify much more than a B- with two losses.
Mason: B+
Mason went 1-1 in his two matches, losing to Claire and Sam before winning an easy match-up in the afternoon. But he played some pretty good golf across both of those, doing a lot of the heavy lifting in his loss before carrying Josh Richards to victory in Round 2.
Micah: B+
Micah absolutely bolted in both of his matches, winning 5&3 and 3&2, but he was probably wasted against opponents he was far too good for. He was one of just nine players we ranked as S Tier heading into the event, so it’s always going to be hard for those guys to exceed expectations by too much, but he did what he needed to do.
Paige: B-
Paige was dragged along for one of the more eventful Round 1 matchups, watching on as SGK nestled his way into her partner Bobby Ray’s head in a match they ultimately lost comfortably. Paige herself played okay though, and bounced back with an easy win in the afternoon.
Perez: B+
FP was part of a fun team alongside the man of the moment in Big John, with whom he split a pair of entertaining matches. He played some really solid golf, to the point where Grant wanted him to take the ball for the second playoff hole as Team White’s 4th best player. Of course, he didn’t and the rest is history, but that he was in the conversation shows that he played some good golf.
Peter Finch: A
It’s certainly no criticism to say that Peter Finch was the least good captain given Dalke, Ruffels and Wes Bryan were the other three, but he well and truly held his own with his more highly credentialled counterparts on the course. He won both his matches – in the second that was expected, but the first was he and the Jet vs Grant and Riggs, which on paper looks pretty even. The Jet definitely outperformed expectations as we’ll get to later, but so too did Finch en route to a 4&3 win in that one.
PFT: B+
This is where things could get confusing in this ‘relative to expectations’ rating system, but expectations for PFT were lower than Barry White’s voice. He lost both his matches, but he hit quite a lot of decent shots and I thought he played pretty well by his standards.
Rick: C+
As a seasoned professional, Rick was one of the better players at this event, so while he still played well relative to the field he definitely wasn’t at his best. He and Joey just beat a team they should’ve been better than in Jake and Salim, and he and Martin were then pummelled by Ruffels and Riggs. And then…the playoff. Rick was put in the mayor’s office by a Roger Steele bomb, and while his approach wasn’t bad to a pin that he couldn’t really attack, he’d have wanted to leave Roger closer than he did.
Riggs: B-
Riggs was…okay. He seemed to have had a fairly unmemorable couple of rounds, splitting his matches one and one, neither of them being particularly close. Didn’t set the world on fire, didn’t embarrass himself.
Roger: B
Roger and Short Game King made for an unlikely duo, but they complemented each other reasonably well, SGK with his SG, and Roger with his big bombs. He undeniably played a lot better last year and had a couple of bad moments on Day 1 this year, missing a couple of short putts, but he also rose to the occasion and then some with his drive on the second playoff hole, even if it all ultimately came to nought.
Ruffels: A-
There probably isn’t a steadier golfer at this event than Ruffels. The captain of Team White won both of his matches, each of them against solid opposition, and while he took more of Gaethje’s shots in the scramble than probably anticipated, that was a lot more to do with his partner playing out of his skin than Ruffels playing badly. He also hit a very good shot out of the bunker on the first playoff hole, and he won each member of his team $5k with the NTP challenge before the event started. Expectations were already very high for him, but he couldn’t have done much more.
Sabrina: B
Sabrina didn’t get a huge amount of airtime, but she had two good matches alongside Mac against some solid opposition, drawing both of them. She was taken at pick #39 so expectations can’t have been too high, and while Mac was clearly carrying the team, she played solid enough.
Salim: C+
Salim is well and truly part of the non-golfer crew here, but he went ahead of a lot of them at pick #52 in the draft. Not much to say here – he wasn’t expected to be particularly good, but he lost both of his matches, one of which was against Trent Ryan and Jersey Jerry, so even relative to the low expectations on his shoulders he probably underperformed.
Sam: A
Sam was great. Despite what his quirky and somewhat aloof demeanour might suggest, he is an awesome player, and he showed it on Day 1. Given he has played pro golf at a very high level that’s to be expected, but even so he hit some fantastic shots. He and Claire were a really unusual and entertaining duo, so an extra point for that, and I also really enjoyed seeing him chirping back at Santino after showing up late for his tee time.
Santino: B
Speaking of Santino, he spent more time giving lip than playing golf, but it’s all part of the fun isn’t it? He is playing a role and doing it well, even if it’s not readily apparent to everyone around him. As for the golf? He’s quite a steady player and hit the ball well enough to justify being picked at #24, but with a draw and a loss from his two matches can’t get more than a B.
Sara: C+
Sara played both of her matches alongside Garrett Clark, against Cole Lantz and Seb Carmichael-Brown, and lost them both pretty comfortably. In that quarter, her partner was the highest pick and she was the lowest, so theoretically it should have been a close enough matchup, which it wasn’t. Garrett was also partly to blame, but Sara was probably a little worse than expected.
Seb: A
One member of the duo that beat Sara and Garrett, Seb played really well – certainly a lot better than some of the people he was drafted around. He went at pick #26, just behind Manziel and Santino, but based on how he played he was a bargain.
Short Game King: B+
Didn’t this guy make a name for himself? Like him or loathe him, SGK was front and centre of a lot of action on Day 1, his incessant chirping of Bobby Ray getting plenty of tongues wagging. But for the most part, he backed it up, playing some really good golf in the morning session particularly around the greens (who would’ve thought) to notch up a win. Unfortunately, a lot of his hard work came undone with a missed (almost) tap-in on 18 to lose 1 down to Grant and Gaethje. Had he made that putt, Team Blue advances to Day 2. That could hardly have been a more costly miss, but over the course of the day in its entirety, SGK acquitted himself well.
Taco: C
Taco is a very accomplished player, and even at his worst would be significantly better than the vast majority of players at the Internet Invitational. But he didn’t quite reach the lofty heights he’s capable of on Day 1. He and Daltoosh tied Mac and Sabrina in the morning session in a match-up they probably would have been favoured to win – and that was with Daltoosh playing some good golf – while in the afternoon he was beaten easily by Wesley and Bob. Gun golfer, funny guy, but can play better than he did.
The Duke: C
Not too sure what to say here. The Duke is the Duke. He has the weirdest swing in the world, and was picked last. It’s hard to underperform too significantly after that, but I feel like he hit more decent shots last year. The highlight of his day came when he sunk a putt to win hole 17 with a quadruple bogey, keeping his and Salim’s match with Trent and Jerry alive – a real clash of the titans. They still lost 1 down.
The Jet: A-
We put up a tier list on Instagram prior to the first video being released, and without question the placement that the masses were most upset about was the Jet being in F Tier. What can you do but tip your hat to the man? The Internet Invitational is the Jet’s Super Bowl and he once again rose to the occasion, showing his name doesn’t belong alongside the likes of the Duke and Jersey Jerry. He sunk some great putts, hit a few decent shots, and while he went 1-1 in his two matches, he well and truly outperformed expectations.
Tisha: B+
Tisha happily climbed upon the broad shoulders of Evan Thompson in the morning session en route to a dominant win, and while her shots weren’t exactly required in a scramble match in which her partner was getting up and down off the tee from 300 yards away, she was plodding along solidly for whenever he needed her. They drew their second match against Brad and Karol, and overall Tisha, with a win and a draw, probably played slightly better than her tag as pick #31 would suggest.
Tooms: B-
Tooms didn’t exactly find himself in the most thrilling matchup in the morning session, pairing up with Josh Richards and taking on PFT and Callux. He could’ve won that with his eyes closed, but definitely played worse than usual and took longer than would’ve been expected to knock them off. Later he tied with Mac and Sabrina when paired with Hailey, giving him a win and a draw, but if you’ve watched Tooms play much you know he can hit it a whole lot better.
Trent: B
Trent couldn’t have done much in his throwaway match alongside Jerry in the morning, but that dangerous duo won an important swing match against Salim and the Duke later on in the day. Pick #54 seems pretty much bang on.
Tyler: B
Tyler didn’t win a match, drawing his first and losing his second, but he didn’t play particularly badly. He’s got a bit of a funky swing but hits it reasonably well, and hit some good shots along the way.
Wesley: A-
Wesley is probably the best golfer at the event, so he had some lofty expectations to meet, but he could hardly have done more than what he did. He and Bob proved to be an electric duo, winning both of their matches against some capable opposition. The captain of the best team on Day 1 by a long way, Wes deserves his A.
Whit: B-
Maybe a B- is harsh for one of the few players who won both of his matchups, but Whitney was drafted pretty high at #28. He was ahead of numerous relatively low handicaps and just behind SGK and Seb, who I believe both play off around scratch. Whit played with Micah Morris in both sessions – in the morning they beat Jerry and Trent, in the afternoon Cass and JWill. Micah could have beaten both of those duos on his own in a scramble, and he definitely did most of the heavy lifting.
Yandle: C
A tale of two rounds for Keith Yandle, who lost to a pretty unintimidating pair in Kyle and Cheddy in the morning but bounced back with a dominant win against an even less intimidating duo in Callux and PFT in the afternoon. Yandle went at pick #40, just behind Frankie and Bubbie and ahead of Gaethje and Bobby Berger. Despite picking up a win, he looked like he was picked a little early.
So there you have it - 64 grades for the first day of the 2026 Internet Invitational, a day that will go down in history for the remarkable way in which it came to an end. Half of the above names are now out of the event, with Day 2 set to kick off with 32 players remaining. Check back for our new set of grades next weekend, after videos 3 and 4 are released.
