Full disclosure: you could never catch me rearranging my schedule for a game of American football. Everything I know about the sport I learned because Taylor Swift was dating — and is now engaged to — Travis Kelce. And even then, I consistently forget the name of the team he plays for. Oops.
So when I tell you that I have been voluntarily and repeatedly watching content from Travis Kelce’s sister-in-law, Kylie, you understand the weight of that sentence.
Kylie Kelce found her way onto my Spotify one random afternoon, and I have been a loyal subscriber to her podcast and her YouTube channel ever since. She is funny without trying to be funny, real without making a whole thing about being real, and watchable in a way that is genuinely hard to explain. Her YouTube series is called FAFO — for those who know what that stands for, congratulations on being updated. For those who don’t, a quick Google would be a solid assist.
Once a month, she steps out of her podcast studio and throws herself into something she has absolutely no business doing, coached by someone who has spent their entire life doing it. Episode 7 is golf. I watched all 50 minutes in one sitting, which is saying something, because it took me five attempts to finish the first episode of Nobody Wants This. Apologies, Kristen Bell and Adam Brody. I am now looking forward to the next season.
The premise: Kylie wants to beat her husband Jason Kelce on the golf course. Not participate. Not try her best. BEAT HIM. The woman walked into this episode with a target on her husband’s back, and I respect it deeply. Is it petty to feel a disproportionate amount of joy when a woman beats a man in sport? Absolutely. Am I going to examine that feeling too closely? I am not. Some things you just accept about yourself and move on.
Her coach is Michelle Wie West — five-time LPGA Tour winner, former world number one, and arguably one of the greatest women to ever pick up a club. A woman who drives the ball further than probably 90 percent of the male golfing population and who recently came out of a two-year retirement after having two children. Only Kylie Kelce could land Michelle Wie West as her very first golf instructor. Completely iconic.
Now, I work in golf. I have sat through more golf content than any one person should reasonably have to endure. And I am telling you, this episode is better than most of it. Kylie doesn’t show up in a matching girly-girl set to look adorable while pretending to try. She shows up with a let’s-figure-this-out-right-now energy. Her background is in field hockey — she started in second grade, had a standout collegiate career, and still coaches elite youth players today. You’d think all that athleticism would give her a head start. And then golf does what golf always does: humbles everyone, from beginners all the way to the pros.
Kylie’s first swing was, generously speaking, more Happy Gilmore than Tiger Woods. Michelle encouraged a more conventional technique but later, in a genuinely wonderful moment, told Kylie to just lean into her own style. She let Kylie swing her swing. Watching that unfold, as someone who has spent years in this sport, was like watching someone discover a skill they didn’t know they had. And watching Michelle resist the urge to over-coach, just fully letting her enjoy the process — that part I did not expect to find as moving as I did.
Somewhere between Kylie talking about getting her six-year-old daughter Wyatt into golf and trying to sort out her swing’s weight transfer, something clicked for me: this is what golf looks like when it’s fun. Even when you’re a complete beginner. Even when you’re initially really terrible. The chemistry between them made it obvious — golf is genuinely capable of bringing people together regardless of skill level. Your six-year-old might be better than you, and you still go for it. Because going for it is the whole point.
What I keep coming back to as well is the competitiveness — high-key and completely genuine. There is something about watching a woman be openly, unapologetically competitive, just in an I came here to do a thing and I am going to do the thing way, that I find completely, in the words of her soon-to-be sister-in-law, “enchanting.”
Kylie didn’t make par on any of the holes. But as Michelle said, “I’ve seen so much worse.” And for any mothers reading this, Michelle mentioned a study that found if your kids play golf, you end up spending 60 percent more time with them over the course of their lives. So even if you never dramatically improve, that might just be the win.
I don’t know if Kylie has beaten Jason yet. I genuinely need a follow-up episode. What I do know is that somewhere between her first swing and her last, golf through the lens of Kylie Kelce became something worth writing about. Not because of a leaderboard. Not because of a trophy. Just a woman, a golf club, a legend coaching her, and a kid taking her golf shots in rain boots. Honestly? That’s beyond the scoreboard. And it’s so much better.
