TikTok star James Nicholas has qualified to play in the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale alongside Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy. The American creator, who has 400,000 followers on TikTok, earned his place through qualifying two weeks ago.
During practice rounds at Royal Birkdale, spectators and content creators gathered across the course. Behind the fourth green, a spectator in a white caddie uniform spoke into a microphone while a friend recorded Bryson DeChambeau hitting putts. At the driving range, two people interviewed a practicing player over the barrier using a mobile phone.
Presenter Peter Finch, a YouTuber with 830,000 subscribers, gave his views on the updated Royal Birkdale course layout on the Open's Live At The Range social media stream. Other golf influencers filmed TikTok videos inside the Open megastore to see how much they could spend.
A practice round video featuring Masters champion Rory McIlroy on the official R&A YouTube channel reached 43,000 views in its first 24 hours. A separate video showing amateur golfer Grant Horvat playing the course with Wesley and George Bryan, known as the Bryan Bros, reached one million views within two days.
British coach Rick Shiels has more than three million YouTube subscribers, and his video from Open regional qualifying reached nearly half a million views. Former professional golfer turned glamour model Paige Spiranac has four million followers on Instagram alone.
Amateur golfers watch online content to improve their game, including videos offering tips to prevent slicing tee shots. Amateurs can play Royal Birkdale for £495 per round and purchase the same equipment used by professionals. Horvat, who has 1.8 million subscribers, featured world top-ranked Scottie Scheffler in a video that gained over seven million views.
Qualifying Costs and Player Finances
Nicholas posts behind-the-scenes videos breaking down tournament finances for his followers. He revealed that trying to qualify for the Open cost him about £7,500 for entry fees, flights, Airbnbs, food and a massage.
Nicholas will earn at least £6,750 even if he misses the cut this week, while the winner will earn £2.4 million. Meanwhile, Wesley Bryan missed out on the final qualifying spot in the inaugural Last Chance Qualifier event.
Speaking to Daily Mail Sport, Nicholas explained his motivation for creating online content.
"Kids don't watch TV, they watch YouTube," Nicholas said. "When I first turned pro, I wanted to broaden my reach and also to help inspire the next generation to chase their dreams."
"When I was 10 or 11, I would ask Google what Tiger was shooting," Nicholas said. "Now, these kids can just DM their favourite athlete, hopefully I'm one of them, and inspire them. A kid came over to the house I'm renting this week, who had watched me in qualifying, and I gave him my golf bag and a hat."
Nicholas noted that social media engagement offers financial and professional benefits for players and tournament organizers.
"There are upsides in terms of sponsorship and income," Nicholas said. "It can even get you invites into tour events. If I'm a sponsor of a tournament, and Grant Horvat is interested in playing the event, I know it's going to bring a million more eyes to the event, to our engagement."
In 2020, Nicholas arrived at an event seconds before his tee time after receiving a late alternate callup without clubs, shoes or a glove. The story went viral, leading to invitations to multiple tournaments, including the PGA Tour's Bermuda Championship.
As a Korn Ferry Tour regular, Nicholas earns more money from social media than golf tournaments. He earned $255,057 (£190,000) in tournament prize money in 2025 and $45,000 (£33,300) for making the cut at this year's US Open. Regarding his social media earnings, he added, "...but it's been a good year!"
Filming Rules and Tournament Policy
The R&A rejected requests from Nicholas for media accreditation for his personal YouTube and TikTok production staff, stating, "We're not credentialing any personal media teams." Players may film inside the ropes during practice rounds, but are restricted to filming outside the ropes once the championship begins. Live streaming is prohibited because Sky Sports holds exclusive broadcast rights.
While the PGA Tour hosts the Creator Classic, a nine-hole tournament for influencers, the R&A chose instead to establish the Last Chance Qualifier.
"We could have chosen to stage a creator classic at the start of this week," R&A chief executive Mark Darbon said. "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."
"We will engage with different audiences through a range of channels, where we'll use influencers and content creators to help us on that journey, but we will never do anything to undermine the standing, heritage and platform that our championship has built and will continue to stand for," Darbon added.
DeChambeau Pursues Social Media Growth
DeChambeau was followed during his practice round by an entourage recording video on mobile phones. While walking the links, he posted an Instagram story teasing a YouTube video of himself playing a course in a redwood forest, which accumulated nearly one million views within 20 hours.
DeChambeau is currently on line for a "Cut Slam" after failing to reach the weekend at the first three major championships of the year. Asked about his plans if LIV Golf folds, DeChambeau expressed a desire to expand his online reach.
"I'd love to grow my YouTube channel three times, maybe even more," DeChambeau said. "I'd love to do a bunch of dubbing in different languages, giving the world more reason to watch YouTube. And then I'd love to play tournaments that want me."
Former professional golfer and commentator Brandel Chamblee criticized DeChambeau's focus on YouTube content creation.
"It's almost like he went from chasing Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy to chasing Grant Horvat," Chamblee said. "It's like he wants to outdo every YouTuber in the game of golf instead of outplay everybody in the game of golf."
Nicholas responded directly to Chamblee's assessment of DeChambeau.
"I saw what Brandel Chamblee said about Bryson," Nicholas said. "I don't think that's what Bryson wants to do. My goal is to be the best player in the world one day, not to be the best YouTuber. It helps fund the journey."
