*Spoiler warning if you haven’t watched episode six yet*
When episode six of the Internet Invitational was live for mere seconds, the viewers already totaled 50,000. Less than 10 minutes in it reached 74,000. Say what you want about YouTube golf, but this thing was a smash hit.
But before we dive in, let’s get caught up.
This was held at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri over the course of three days, and was put on by Barstool Sports and Bob Does Sports. It started with 48 players, and for the final, it was Paige Spiranic, Barstool’s Frankie Borrelli, and Good Good’s Mo versus Barstool’s Francis Elllis, Good Good’s Brad Dalke and Barstool’s Cody “Beef” Franke, shortly before his sudden passing late last month. The format for the final match was three-person alternate shot. The winning team split $1,000,000.
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And the drama started early when Francis, Beef, and Brad didn’t give Paige, Frankie, and Mo a two-foot slider for par on the opening hole. Paige took offense to it and told Francis “That just shows you never played competitive golf.” Francis told Brad he could make it “dark,” but came to a truce with Paige on the second tee box.
And away they went—oh, by the third hole, viewership reached 100,000.
On the fifth, after Beef hit his tee shot a little long of the green, Brad hit one of the most ridiculous flop shots I’ve ever seen. Tight lie, no green to work with, everything going away from him. This was nasty.
The first moment of high tension came on the 10th hole when Paige was accused of improving a lie a hole earlier. Pete Finch saw her pushing down high weeds around her team’s ball, and when confronted, Paige said she didn’t know that was against the rules. Paige’s team lost the hole anyway, so in the end it didn’t matter much, but she felt terrible about it.
But then, on the very same hole, Joey Cold Cuts told Dave Portnoy there was a rangefinder in Frankie’s team that had slope enabled. Ryan Whitney checked Mo’s rangefinder and the slope wasn’t on, but then Bubbie said he saw Mo grab it before giving it over to turn it off.
Just absolute cinema. I couldn’t look away. It honestly felt scripted (in the best possible way).
When both teams were on the green, Dave checked the GoPro cart cam and saw Mo grab his rangefinder with his hand questionably close to the switch for slope. Ryan Whitney, who bet on Frankie’s team, saw the video and laughed. Pretty damning, if you ask me.
And the music. Are you kidding me? This is a realty show.
In the end, Dave decided to just play, which was the right call. It’s be a waste to turn the finale into a rules controversy.
The atmosphere for the rest of the round was tense. Nerves were visibly at peak levels and not just because of the golf. Everyone declared rulings the rest of the day, and I don’t blame them.
Team Dalke was 2 up with three holes to play, and the pressure showed up. Francis skulled his tee shot on the par-3 16th, and Beef bladed his chip. Brad hit a great chip to a few feet, then it was Paige’s turn. Her putt for birdie came up short and rolled back down the hill. Again…cinema! Frankie left his team’s par bid several feet short, but Francis let them off the hook. Team Paige won the hole with a four, and the lead was 1 up with two to play.
At this point, you could feel the tension in the air. And it only got more dense when Team Paige won 17 and the two teams went to 18 all tied up. All six videos and $1,000,000 came down to one hole.
After Frankie hit it in the junk—we all knew it was coming with Dave standing so close—Brad hit a drive that might have gone four bills, right down the center. It shouldn’t shock me. He played in the Masters, for God’s sake. But you want to talk about stones? My goodness.
Mo answered with a fantastic shot from the fescue, setting his team up for a third from the fairway. Francis’ shot came up short and left of the green, and Paige’s—the team’s third—snap hooked left and finished near the other team’s ball.
But all the drama left the event when Frankie “Butterknives” bladed his team’s fourth over the green and into the water.
Game over.
The best part, though, was Beef hit the team’s final shot to close it out. Truly a storybook ending. And the tribute they put together for him at the end was perfect. Tear-jerking, to say the least.
The main takeaway? This thing rocked. It’s truly captured the golf world’s attention for three weeks. Not only do I want more, I want a couple of these things a year.
Barstool and Bob Does Sports knocked this out of the park.
