Grant Horvat shoots six under to beat Big John by six in their first match

Grant Horvat shot six under par in his first match against Big John, an 18-hole stroke-play round posted to Horvat's YouTube channel on Wednesday. Big John, the creator whose putt kept their Internet Invitational team alive, finished at even par after a bogey on the last hole.

A tie at the turn

Horvat birdied the first hole, and both players said that's a bad omen. Big John kept pace hitting his usual slap cut. The front nine turned on the seventh, a par 5. Horvat hit his tee shot into the water, laid up into a bunker and made a double bogey that dropped him to one over. Big John's putt there tied the match.

"Golf's a funny game, isn't it?" Horvat said. He birdied the eighth, and on the ninth Big John took an aggressive line past a tree on the left. Horvat said he'd never seen anyone pull that off, since players who try it usually hook it into the water.

Horvat pulls away

On the back nine, Horvat birdied 10 to take the lead, then drove a short par 4 to about 10 feet and made the eagle putt. "You literally dunked on me," Big John said. With four holes to play, Horvat was four under and Big John was at even par.

Horvat birdied 15. On the par-5 17th, he hit a big draw from 236 yards and tapped in for birdie to get to six under. Big John made a birdie of his own with the Reaper to reach one under.

On 18, Horvat punched a 6-iron from 171 yards into the breeze and had a putt for seven under. He said that would have been his lowest round on YouTube. The putt didn't drop. Big John then missed his par putt and finished at even.

Standing on the 18th, Horvat called it one of the lower rounds he has played, even off camera. He told viewers his game has been a struggle lately, and finally putting together a round like this "just feels so relieving."

The Reaper and the playoff

Between shots, the two creators went back over the alternate-shot playoff at the Internet Invitational. Big John's drive found a bunker and Horvat hit the next shot. Big John said his last look before the putt was Horvat pointing at the top of the hill where he wanted the ball to end up. Then he holed it. "It's one of the greatest putts I've ever watched," Horvat said.

Big John told the story behind his backward Reaper putter. When he had about 5,000 YouTube subscribers, he said, a small putter shop in Texas offered him $500 a month to use it for a year. After a year of that, he said, a Scotty, TaylorMade or Bettinardi looks weird to him. Horvat, who putts with an L.A.B., called himself "a DF3 guy through and through."

What to watch

The two say they'll play a rematch on Big John's channel. The pair also traded advice for windy days that sim golfers can practice by turning the wind on: play the shot 10 to 15 yards longer, take more club and swing easier. "If you got to hit five, go hit five," as they put it.