Second Netflix PGA Tour series gets green light

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The article below was written by Matt Chivers of National Club Golfer.

After passing the first test with flying colours, Full Swing has been given the go-ahead for a second season on Netflix in 2024.

The first series of the behind-the-scenes style show was released in February and documented the lives and careers of some of the PGA Tour’s much-loved stars – and now enemies.

Full Swing featured Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and Rory McIlroy, but also Brooks Koepka, Ian Poulter, and Dustin Johnson who all joined LIV Golf.

As Poulter said during the eight-episode debut season, Netflix “picked a hell of a year” to cover the PGA Tour as professional golf was split down the middle with the emergence of the Saudi-backed series.

The Englishman was heavily featured in the show and explained his reasons for moving to LIV Golf, while also letting the cameras into his family homes.

Johnson was plain with his reasoning for making the controversial switch to the rebel league, saying “I don’t care” when asked if people would doubt him.

Tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced Netflix would be producing a second season ahead of the Players Championship, attributing the show as a strategy to evolve and improve the circuit.

“A point of emphasis for our organisation has been delivering the PGA Tour to fans where they are and making our sport more welcoming through innovation and strategic partnerships,” he said.

“Full Swing debuted to Netflix’s 230 million subscribers the week of the Genesis Invitational and has been consistently in the Netflix top 10 worldwide.

“As a result of such strong performance out of the gate, Netflix announced earlier this morning that they are officially green-lighting season two of Full Swing.

“I think that the commitment that we made at that time to Netflix, some of the real innovation that we’ve had around concepts like TGL, all that starts to manifest itself at that point in time.”

The involvement in the Netflix series is one way the Tour is trying to maintain its status as the most popular on the planet.

TGL, the brainchild of McIlroy and Tiger Woods, is set to reach primetime television slots in 2024, pitting some of the world’s best players against each other in a tech-infused golf arena.

 

 

On the course, the Tour has started a new walk-and-talk initiative to give viewers at home access to the minds of players while they are in the heat of battle.

Ahead of the Players Championship, McIlroy admitted the rise of LIV Golf has vastly improved the landscape of the sport, but this is not the only entity the Tour needs to battle to thrive in the modern world.

“This has caused a ton of innovation at the PGA Tour, and what was quite – an antiquated system is being revamped to try to mirror where we’re at in the world in the 21st century with the media landscape,” he said.

“The PGA Tour isn’t just competing with LIV Golf or other sports. It’s competing with Instagram and TikTok and everything else that’s trying to take eyeballs away from the PGA Tour as a product.

“So, yeah, you know, LIV coming along, it’s definitely had a massive impact on the game, but I think everyone who’s a professional golfer is going to benefit from it going forward.”