A few months ago (along with 109,500 others it seems) I began following PGA Tour player Michael Kim on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/Mike_kim714)

Despite not being a household name – or perhaps because of it – Kim’s feed has proved to be one of the most interesting, entertaining and educational on the platform.

It’s a mix of golf nerdery, swing thoughts/reviews and tips, equipment discussion, humour and general banter about anything and everything to do with Tour life.

And it’s found a healthy audience among golf fans which, given the alternatives, is not surprising.

For the most part, the social media accounts of top players look, from the outside at least, to be run by staff.

Steady streams of pictures from the course being played that week with some variation of the theme ‘it’s not a bad office’ or announcements about being ‘honoured’ to represent some new sponsor do little to draw one in.

But players like Kim, Padraig Harrington and Max Homa are getting it absolutely right and showing the way by how they engage with fans.

"Unlike traditional media interviews where players can only respond to the questions being asked, social media has given them the freedom to start conversations directly. On the topics THEY want to talk about."

When you get the genuine thoughts of the game’s best, straight from the horse’s mouth so to speak, it turns out people want to tune in.

It’s what the young people call ‘authentic’ (or it used to be though that may have changed now) and it works mostly because it avoids the mistake so many in the media business make which is to look for the ‘formula’ that will guarantees success.

Unlike traditional media interviews where players can only respond to the questions being asked, social media has given them the freedom to start conversations directly. On the topics THEY want to talk about.

It’s all part of the changing way sports fans, including those of us in the golf world, ‘consume’ the product.

For those of a certain age that consumption used to consist of watching the play on TV then perhaps discussing what happened with some friends.

Now the viewing experience tends to involve watching both the broadcast and one’s Twitter feed simultaneously to monitor not only the play but the conversation around it.

While Twitter is throwing up some ‘accidental’ stars like Kim and co. those who work in the industry are also hard at it trying to make things more entertaining.

The DP World Tour social media team (perhaps the best of any sport in the business) introduced an interesting concept at last week’s Dubai Desert Classic called The Green Room.

Taking a ‘Big Brother’ approach to post round interviews, players were led into a small room and asked their post round thoughts by a robotic voice rather than an on course reporter.

The interesting wrinkle, though, was that many of the players asked to participate had just had a less than stellar score or finish to their round. (Check out the Tour’s YouTube mash up here if you missed it https://bit.ly/3HCU0bW)

It was captivating content because it’s raw and real. And it’s likely the way of the future. (Or maybe not. Honestly, who knows anymore?)