Ryan Whitney: Internet Invitational beat Stanley Cup nerves
TLDR: On the new Out and About, Ryan Whitney told Pat and Keegs the Internet Invitational rattled him more than an Olympic gold medal game or a Stanley Cup Final, and he admitted he smoked before his big putt.
Whitney was on the 2010 US Olympic team and played in the NHL for years. On this episode he puts a YouTube golf tournament above all of it.
The Internet Invitational being more nerve-racking than a Stanley Cup final game is insane. Great episode with @ryanwhitney6 here ⬇️⬇️
You'd think it's a bit, but it really isn't. The Internet Invitational is Barstool's big-money golf tournament with Bob Does Sports. The 2026 edition was filmed in August at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri, with 64 players and a purse of more than $4 million. Whitney wasn't there just for laughs, either. He played on the Red team with Big John and Salim, and they made the final. He said the worst part of the pressure was the idea of letting Portnoy down. That's a funny thing to admit about a guy he's been arguing with on camera for years.
Then the story gets better. Whitney says he took a hit because he figured he was done golfing for the day, and then he got called back in to play. By his account, it did nothing for the drive. The putt was a different story.
“It probably helped for the putt though. I was super chill over the putt that I made” -Ryan Whitney
That putt is the one people saw in Episode 5. Whitney made par on a knockout hole, and it helped the Red team move on. It also kept the Portnoy feud going, since the two of them went at each other for basically the whole episode. According to Whitney's telling on the pod, Dave gave him a shove after the putt went in. Then Dave went online and said his smile was a proud dad pulling for his guy. Whitney doesn't believe that for a second. He thinks the smile meant Dave was hoping he'd choke later on a bigger stage. Whitney's verdict on how their run-in went was short.
This is the Whitney vs. Portnoy rivalry people tune in for. Whitney is one of the few people at the company who will actually fight back against Dave, and now he's saying golf pressure got to him in a way hockey never did. A guy who played under the brightest lights in hockey is saying a 4-footer in front of Dave made him shake. You have to love that. Pat's verdict on the episode: the Invitational being more nerve-racking than a Cup Final is insane.
The timing works out well too. The 6th and final episode premieres Thursday, November 12, and Whitney's Red team plays Riggs' team in 18 holes of alternate shot for the title. Portnoy is one of the rules officials, so he'll have a front-row seat. If Whitney's nerves are already this bad when he's just telling stories, wait until we see him in the final.
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