pga tour netflix players

Full Swing Cast: All The Golfers Featured In Netflix PGA Tour Series

The big-name players featuring in the eight-episode Netflix docuseries

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Netflix docuseries Full Swing offers a fascinating account of a turbulent year on the PGA Tour following some of its most prominent players as they strive for success against the backdrop of the LIV Golf threat.

In a similar format to another series the creators are responsible for, F1: Drive To Survive, Full Swing features specific players in each of the eight episodes . It starts by looking at the friendly rivalry between Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas in a year when Spieth was searching for a career Grand Slam while Thomas pursued – and achieved – his second Major win in the PGA Championship under the guidance of his coach and father, Mike. Rickie Fowler also features talking about the pair's rivalry.

The big talking point of 2022, was, of course, the emergence of LIV Golf , and one of the players who would sign for the start-up, Brooks Koepka , is the focus of the second episode. Koepka ’s insecurity over his loss of form takes centre stage as he competes in the WM Phoenix Open and The Masters. We also get an insight into the kind of lifestyle being a former World No.1 with four Major titles can offer - a stunningly luxurious home in Florida. Koepka's struggles are contrasted against Scottie Scheffler ’s meteoric rise, culminating in him winning The Masters at Augusta National and becoming World No.1.

Brooks Koepka features in episode 3, titled: 'Win or Go Home'

The original trailer features a memorable Ian Poulter quote: “You picked a hell of a year to start following the PGA Tour,” but for the Englishman, it was to be his last on it - at least for the time being - as he opted to sign for LIV as one of its first intake of players. The third episode also shows Poulter spending time with his wife and children, including son Luke, a promising player in his own right .

Episode four follows Joel Dahmen and his heart-warming relationship with caddie and best friend Geno Bonnalie in a year where the player made headlines after briefly going shirtless in the WM Phoenix Open and finishing tied for 10th in the US Open. Look out for a brief appearance from Max Homa , too.

By June's US Open, the first LIV Golf tournament had already taken place, with Dustin Johnson the shock name announced as a marquee signing. Johnson is given his chance to explain his reasons for joining LIV in episode five. As he teed it up at the Country Club of Brookline hoping for his second US Open title, a player firmly wedded to the PGA Tour, Matt Fitzpatrick, was looking for his first Major win – and the stories of the two players are the primary focus.

With three episodes of the series remaining, it’s the turn of 2021 Open champion Collin Morikawa and Tony Finau to tell their stories, as the pair take very different paths preparing for The Masters and Open at St Andrews. Finau is shown as a doting family man, while the episode also spends time with Morikawa and Katherine Zhu, who he would marry later in the year.

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Tony Finau is followed in Episode 6

Rookies Sahith Theegala and Mito Pereira dominate the penultimate episode as they looked for their first PGA Tour wins. The former was eventually nominated for PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, while Pereira was central to one of the most agonising moments of 2022, when he missed the chance to win the PGA Championship in heartbreaking circumstances. Pereira's compatriot, Chilean Joaquin Niemann, and Theegala's dad also appear.

The concluding episode features a player who initially wasn’t expected to participate - Rory McIlroy. As well as having a glorious 2022 on the course, McIlroy was a staunch proponent of the PGA Tour off it. Amid the drama, he was also looking for his fifth Major win, and the episode follows his efforts in his final chance of the year battling Cameron Smith in the 150th Open.

The final episode belongs to Rory McIlroy

There are a few notable players missing from the series, including former World No.1 Jon Rahm, 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau, who also joined LIV. Nevertheless, as a roll call for telling the story of one of the most turbulent years in the game's history, the cast is undeniably impressive as each compelling episode unfolds. 

Below is the full list of players featuring in Full Swing,

Players Featured In Full Swing

• Joel Dahmen
• Tony Finau
• Matthew Fitzpatrick
• Rickie Fowler
• Max Homa
• Dustin Johnson
• Brooks Koepka
• Rory McIlroy
• Collin Morikawa
• Joaquin Niemann
• Mito Pereira
• Ian Poulter
• Scottie Scheffler
• Xander Schauffele
• Jordan Spieth
• Sahith Theegala
• Justin Thomas

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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Behind the scenes of Netflix's highly anticipated golf docuseries

The standard for any access-based sports documentary has to be “Formula 1: Drive to Survive,” which debuted on Netflix in 2019 and has become a top-10 show in 56 countries for the streaming service. The ripple effects for a relatively niche sport have been staggering. The United States is now the biggest market for F1 online merchandise sales, and viewership is up 40 percent.

Now it’s golf’s turn.

“Full Swing,” the eight-episode series documenting a year in professional golf, debuts Feb. 15 on Netflix (Editor's Note: Golf Digest recapped and analyzed every episode of the show in story and podcast form, available here .) If the creators were ever worried about a dull season, the emergence of LIV Golf tempered those fears. It might be hyperbolic to suggest that the show will transform professional golf, but there is a chance, at least, that golf could become a cultural sensation by the time the boys tee it up at Augusta National in April.

On the Saturday of the FedEx St. Jude Classic last August, I met a small crew from “Full Swing” who arrived in Memphis to cover the rookie-of-the-year race. Cameron Young was the favorite, but players like Sahith Theegala and Mito Pereira still had hope, and all three were in the field at the PGA Tour’s first playoff event. Mary Stamm-Clarke, a freelance producer for Vox Media Studios, which is filming “Full Swing” for Netflix, had the job of following Theegala on the front nine with her production assistant, Patrick Rodgers. They knew from experience that Muralidhar Theegala, Sahith’s father, would happily wear a microphone while he followed his son. Sure enough, he was rarely silent that day, chatting with anyone in the vicinity. When he high-fived a fan, Rodgers drove up in his cart with a release for the man to sign.

Late on the front nine, Rodgers spotted Michael Beard, the head men’s golf coach at Pepperdine. Theegala had won every national player-of-the-year award while playing for Beard in 2020, and the crew wanted him to wear a microphone, too. He wasn’t so eager. “I’m just here to cheer him on,” he told Rodgers. “I want this to be about him.”

As if by instinct, Stamm-Clarke appeared at his side. “That’s all we want,” she said, pleasant and reassuring, but also conveying the inevitability of his acquiescence. “We just want it to be about him.” Even as she spoke, she was preparing the microphone, and soon it was clipped to his shirt—he was now part of the show. After complimenting Stamm-Clarke on her powers of persuasion, I wondered what came next. “Now you let it breathe,” she said.

Stamm-Clarke, originally from London, had worked with Vox previously on shows about surfing and tennis, and she knew her way around people. Beard walked alone for another hole before Stamm-Clarke approached again to ask if he would join Theegala’s father. There was no need to ask him to talk; if he was around Muralidhar, that would be inevitable. He obliged and soon fell into the conversational orbit.

As I found out later, this hustle was in vain, and nothing from that day was used in the final cut. Still, it was a fascinating insight into how this docuseries is made. The producers refuse to stage anything or to ask for second takes of organic moments, but they do occasionally feed conversational topics to their subjects. Mostly, though, the team’s job is to be the invisible observers through the long hours, punctuated by moments of frenetic preparation—like dropping everything to visit a player’s house when he finally gives the OK or jetting off to Detroit, as producer Dan Wilson and his crew had done two weeks earlier, when Tony Finau, one of the show’s featured players, was on the verge of winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

One of the title options Netflix rejected for the show was “The Long Game.” It would have been thematically appropriate for how the crew operated—being there, relentlessly, until lightning struck. If lightning struck enough times throughout the year, the team might have enough material for a storyline, an episode, or even a whole season of TV.

Chad Mumm, chief creative officer at Vox and the lead producer of “Full Swing,” said the show has been in the works for a long time. As far back as 2014, when he was running Vox’s ad agency, he met with the PGA Tour in Ponte Vedra Beach to pitch an SB Nation-style team community. The tour chose a different partner instead, but its media team loved Mumm’s pitch, which included an original series. They stayed in touch and played golf together each year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The timing was finally right in 2019; by the end of their round at Shadow Creek, they had hashed out an informal plan of how the deal would work, and Mumm had exclusive rights and a signed deal later that spring. “Chad’s pitch was, ‘It’s got to be truthful,’ ” said Chris Wandell, the tour’s vice president of media-business development. “ ‘Whatever we do, whoever provides access, it’s got to be real. It can’t be an infomercial for the PGA Tour.’ ”

More On "Full Swing"

To sell the show, Mumm needed players, and he started that process in April at Augusta National. He didn’t have a pass to get near the famous oak tree where the VIPs mingle, so he printed out the name and picture of every agent for every player he wanted to sign, studied the pages as he stood against the ropes and waited for them to appear.

His biggest hindrance was that he couldn’t pay anyone, but he could offer exposure and the ability for the player to dictate the extent of Netflix’s access. That was enough to sign Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau and Justin Thomas. (“Signing,” in this case, grants Netflix the rights to use the footage shot off the course, like in a locker room or at a player’s home. The player determines his level of participation, but signing signals a willingness to give Netflix access.)

Every player I spoke to, from Finau to Joel Dahmen to Max Homa to Matt Fitzpatrick to Theegala, said he was a fan of “Drive to Survive,” and having that point of reference for the potentially career-altering benefits made it easy for them to commit. By the summer of 2020, Netflix had emerged as the primary suitor, and Mumm turned his attention to the majors. Once again, he started at Augusta National, and Wandell was critical to this process: “We’re doing it for the sport, not for us,” Wandell told the governing bodies, and to Mumm’s surprise, the reception at Augusta National was positive. By 2021, Augusta was on board, and so was Netflix.

BEHIND THE SCENES Brooks Koepka and putting coach Jeff Pierce get in some practice

Cameron Young, PGA Tour Rookie of the Year for 2022

The crew began what would become a yearlong effort in late 2021 at Tiger’s Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas. With additional big names like Brooks Koepka agreeing to participate, the first interviews were conducted. Crucially, these were audio only. “We found that if you stick a camera in their face, they go into media-training mode,” Mumm said. “It just kind of clicks into the same platitudes. If you take the camera away, and you just set a mic on the table, their whole posture changes, and it’s just a conversation.”

The audio will be used over B-roll footage, and to the viewer, it’s indistinguishable from filmed interviews. It’s an ingenious method of mining material that a player might not divulge in front of a camera. The technique proved so successful that it was used to explore controversial topics such as LIV Golf. Lose the camera, and the words flowed.

KOEPKA REVEALED HE WOULD LAY IN BED AT NIGHT UNABLE TO SLEEP, GRIPPING AN IMAGINARY GOLF CLUB, AGONIZING ABOUT HIS GAME.

One of the players they interviewed at the Hero World Challenge was Fitzpatrick. He wasn’t part of the original plan for the series, but Vox already had Thomas and Collin Morikawa from Excel Sports Management, and Mark Steinberg, agent to Tiger Woods, encouraged the film crew to give Fitzpatrick a look. When Vox signed him, it was almost as a favor to Excel, which had been supportive of the show from the start. “Fitzpatrick comes in and sits down for his interview,” Mumm recalled, “and we were like, Oh, my God.”

Part of their astonishment was with Fitzpatrick’s analytical approach. The team was used to interacting with golfers who were competitive to their core and exuded swagger. Fitzpatrick, obsessed with the data points he meticulously keeps on every aspect of his game, was studious by comparison. In his matter-of-fact way, he explained how his numbers showed incremental improvement and how that grind would inevitably pay off even against the best players. He became one of the show’s best stories when he won the 2022 U.S. Open.

The one player who didn’t even bother to bring his agent to the studio was Koepka. He drove there alone, stayed for 90 minutes and was more vulnerable than anyone expected. At one point, he spoke about the perception that he doesn’t care and was adamant that he did—a lot. At night, he told them, he would lie in bed next to his wife, Jena, unable to sleep, gripping an imaginary golf club and agonizing about his game. All he thinks about, he told them, is golf—even at 2 a.m.

SCENE-STEALERS Matthew Fitzpatrick (top) and Scottie Scheffler have major storylines.

At that point, Mumm shared a look with Paul Martin, the co-founder of Box to Box Films, the producer of “Drive to Survive,” and they had the same thought: Holy shit. We’ve got a show.

The crew’s first full field event was at Torrey Pines in January 2022, but the first time they ever shot golf happened because of a happy accident. In Hawaii, Joel Dahmen had tweeted that he and Harry Higgs would face a team to be named later on Jan. 24 at a course called Goat Hill Park the week of Torrey. Netflix tagged along to find Dahmen with a bag of White Claws and dozens of fans waiting for him. “It was this sixman scramble, the kids were freakin’ ringers, and it was this awesome, sunset vibe,” Mumm said. “That was our first shoot, and we just thought, Golf needs this. It needs the anti-country club.”

‘FITZPATRICK COMES IN AND SITS DOWN FOR HIS INTERVIEW, AND WE WERE LIKE, OH, MY GOD.’

That day formed the backbone for an episode, and though Dahmen worried he would be cast in the role of a “clown,” he believed the crew came to understand the nature of the relationship between himself, his wife, Lona, and his caddie, Geno Bonnalie. Soon, cameras were everywhere, including a Taco Tuesday night at their home, and when I joked with Dahmen that they kept coming back because the other golfers were too bland, he laughed. “I think that’s exactly what happened,” he said. “Like, we’re going to go film this guy, and suddenly it’s like, nobody wants to watch that. So it was back to me and Geno—best friends who play golf and laugh at each other because we get to do this for a living.”

Dahmen was comfortable with granting full access, but others drew boundaries. Homa declined a home visit the week of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera. Theegala, who describes himself as an “aggressive introvert” in a family full of extroverts, had similar reservations. “My family gets energy from people, and I’ve always been awkward and not wanting to talk to people,” he said. “I still get nervous and have anxiety about any kind of social interaction.”

He made his parents—immigrants from India who poured much of their modest income into Sahith’s development and who, according to Muralidhar, faced incidents of racism along the way—promise not to say anything too embarrassing. After Theegala failed to close out potential wins with the cameras around, his caddie, Carl Smith, gave the crew a hard “no” at the BMW Championship as Theegala attempted to qualify for the Tour Championship.

Tony Finau’s background is similar in some ways to Theegala’s—immigrant parents and little family money—but he leaned more toward Dahmen’s perspective. It helped that Finau’s agent, Chris Armstrong, was a major F1 fan and knew what to expect. “I was open for the challenge and exposure,” Finau said. “The good thing for me is that I’m different, my background is different, my journey’s different. I have five kids; I come from a huge family. I have a whole different perspective, and people are going to see that right away.”

For Netflix, the good luck that began at Goat Hill continued when Justin Thomas won the PGA Championship. Thomas’ father, Mike, became a central figure because of the complex dynamic of being both coach and parent. Early in the week at Southern Hills, Justin struggled with swing issues and admitted that he often gets “pissed” at his dad for being too soft as a coach. This complicated relationship paid off in a big way when the crew was embedded with Team Thomas in the tense moments before he defeated Will Zalatoris in a playoff. (The PGA Championship was a fertile weekend for Netflix, which had also signed Pereira, who lost his chance to win with a double bogey on the 72nd hole and was consoled in the parking lot afterward by a group of his fellow Latino players.)

FAMILY LIFE Tony Finau, with his wife, Alayna, and daughter Sienna-Vee, was an eager participant.

At least one signing happened almost by accident. At the 2021 U.S. Open, Mumm had a long meeting with Bryson De-Chambeau’s agent, Brett Falkoff, to secure his participation. That never panned out, but at a nearby table, Ian Poulter looked at his phone and pretended indifference, long after he had finished eating. When the meeting ended, Mumm decided he had nothing to lose and introduced himself. Poulter was happy to talk and told the Netflix team that if they were making “Drive to Survive” for golf, he was their man. Poulter would become an important figure when he made the transition to LIV Golf. He wrestled with the decision, and this struggle is apparent in the show.

Early discussions with Rory McIlroy, who would end the year ranked No. 1 in the world, yielded an unsatisfying compromise: McIlroy would likely be in for a second season of the show but didn’t want to be a full participant the first season. As the year went along, though, the crew noticed he kept appearing in their shots to the point that it seemed like he wanted to be on camera. At the Open Championship, a series producer pitched him again. McIlroy reiterated that he hadn’t signed, so Mumm offered a compromise: “You’ve been around our cameras the whole time,” he said, “so what if we just film you, and you tell us if it’s too much?”

‘I HAVE A WHOLE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE, AND PEOPLE ARE GOING TO SEE THAT RIGHT AWAY.’

They filmed him all week at St. Andrews, through the heartbreaking loss to Cam Smith, and he never balked at the presence of cameras. The problem was the loss; it was understood that if he won, he would sign on, but when the narrative changed, the reluctance returned, and that cast doubt on whether Netflix could use the footage.

That’s when Mumm decided to throw a Hail Mary. He flew to the Tour Championship in Atlanta and arrived at the clubhouse early Monday morning, hoping to score a private meeting with McIlroy. Mumm was meandering around the hallways, reflecting on the futility of the mission, when he saw McIlroy eating breakfast by himself in player dining. Mumm approached, was invited to sit, and gave his five-minute pitch: You’re the de facto spokesman for the PGA Tour, you’ve got a major platform, and it might never be this important again.

“I’m in,” McIlroy said. Three hours later, they signed an agreement.

McIlroy would become a critical part of how Netflix tells the story of LIV Golf. In the documentary, he holds hushed, seemingly private conversations with other players, all with a camera less than five feet away and a boom mic hanging above his head. At times, the content seemed so personal that the crew offered to back off, only to have McIlroy insist they stay. In addition, having McIlroy on board gave them the inside access to the secret meeting of players he organized with Tiger Woods at the BMW Championship.

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Netflix maintained its ties with the featured players who went to LIV, too, including Koepka, Poulter and Dustin Johnson. A crew traveled to the first LIV event in London. Although initially ambivalent about whether the LIV story had been “good” for the documentary, Mumm believes it created tension, and tension creates a story. All the producers had to do was show the player decisions in real time, whether the players came off as sympathetic or not. One of the episodes, Mumm says, will focus extensively on the LIV drama, but it’s a theme that runs throughout the series, and he predicts that even hardcore golf fans will be surprised by their access.

As the heat picked up in Memphis that August morning and Stamm-Clarke followed Theegala, Mumm made it a point to find Scottie Scheffler on the putting green to secure a home visit before they wrapped shooting for the year. By the clubhouse, producer Dan Wilson, tall and athletically built, filmed Pereira in his workout trailer. Wilson was obviously comfortable with the players, and he told me that the moment he knew he was “in” came when a grinning Scheffler shoved him as he passed by in the locker room—one jock’s token of affection for another.

The goal was to wrap shooting at the Tour Championship in August, but they wound up going two months longer, concluding at the end of October when they shot with, among others, Paulina Gretzky. By then, Mumm felt “excited and exhausted.” I asked about the pressure—this was his creation and maybe the most personal project of his career.

“It’s hard at every single point,” he said. “You’ve got to build the trust, the access; you’ve got to make sure you’re there, that your cameras are there, that things are in focus. Then you get it all in, and you think, How do we make this into a story? How do you make the energy and emotion come out? The stakes are so high because it’s the first non-‘Drive to Survive’ show made for Netflix, and it’s golf.

“It’s terrifying,” he said. “It has to be awesome.”

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Eight Takeaways From Netflix’s ‘Full Swing’ Series

The golf docuseries starts strong with an illuminating look at Brooks Koepka and an introduction to Joel Dahmen—but does it answer all the questions we needed it to?

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Golf fans have been waiting for this moment for months: Full Swing , Netflix’s PGA Tour docuseries, is officially out and ready to binge (if you haven’t devoured it already). There is so much to mull over in just eight episodes—stars ascending, careers on the decline, the ever-present shadow and threat of LIV Golf—and plenty of questions that were raised after watching, too. Can this show do for golf what Drive to Survive did for Formula One ? Do you come away understanding the players, and the Tour at large, better than before? And what’s with the bucket hats, Joel Dahmen?

We have so much to parse and so much gaudy Jupiter, Florida, real estate to cringe at, so let’s dive in and explore eight takeaways from Full Swing ’s first season.

1. Rory McIlroy has still got it.

We had to wait until the end of Full Swing ’s inaugural season to get the Rory Episode, one you were undoubtedly waiting for if you spent any time following the PGA Tour last season. McIlroy didn’t just play well in 2022, though he certainly did that, winning three tournaments, including the Tour Championship in Atlanta in August, and finishing in the top eight in each of the four major championships. But he was also the primary face and voice of the PGA Tour in a season when it was under attack by the Saudi Arabia–funded LIV Golf.

McIlroy spent much of last year promoting the Tour, criticizing the players who jumped ship for money (something he says he regrets in a candid Full Swing moment), and perhaps most important, working to change the Tour to entice other top golfers to stick around.

And his episode doesn’t disappoint. We get plenty of gym time with Rory (even if some of his workouts may seem a little unorthodox—are you supposed to throw medicine balls into a mirror?); we see him chatting with other PGA Tour professionals and get a glimpse into the way they’ve started to defer to Rory as a steward of the game; and we also get this scene, which will live in comedic infamy:

Even if his episode isn’t the most illuminating overall—we don’t get any family or real personal time with him like we do with some of the younger guys on Tour—it’s clear who the big get of this season was for the Full Swing team. Rory delivers.

2. Brooks Koepka is going through it.

WHEW. “Win or Go Home,” Full Swing ’s second episode and one that focuses largely on Koepka, is an incredible piece of television. It’s a portrait of a broken man, one who has lost his game because of injury and mental fatigue and is trying, and failing, to find it again. Plenty of images will stick with me from this episode: a bleached-blond Brooks getting testy with reporters after a disappointing performance at the Waste Management Phoenix Open, a tournament he had won twice previously; Brooks melting down at the Masters, admitting he was embarrassed by his game for the first time; Brooks walking his dog out to the end of a long dock at his Jupiter, Florida, home just to stare out at the water.

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But two scenes trump the rest. The first comes 12 minutes into the episode and shows Brooks chatting with his then-fiancée (and now wife), Jena Sims, at their home. He’s perched on a fluffy swing (as one does) and is talking with Jena about outfits she plans to wear on a forthcoming excursion—I’m assuming her bachelorette party, but that remains unconfirmed. He seems rather dazed, paying little attention to much around him aside from the toy he’s tossing to his dog, and the Full Swing producers overlay this scene with audio from an interview in which Brooks explains his obsession with his game: the fact that he’ll be at home, trying to live his life, but he can think only about the course, his swing, everything that’s going wrong. It’s a powerful juxtaposition.

The other scene is a conversation between Brooks and his mother. They sit on his couch, in front of a largely empty trophy display, dissecting the latest PGA Tour happenings. Brooks openly yearns for the quiet confidence and calm mental waters displayed by Scottie Scheffler, the no. 1 player in the world and his counterpart in this episode. “That kid,” Brooks laments, “I guarantee you if you ask him what he’s thinking about, he goes, ‘Nothing.’ The best player in the world doesn’t have any damn thoughts in his head, so why would you, right? … If Scottie ain’t doing it, why the hell am I doing it? I don’t know.”

All in all, “Win or Go Home” made me feel like I understood Koepka’s decision to join LIV a whole lot more. LIV came along at a time when he was at his lowest in his game—a far cry from the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons, when he won four majors and looked like he’d dominate the Tour for a long time to come. And rather than continue to put himself through such anguish, he chose to jump ship and secure his monetary future. Was it the right decision? I don’t know, and according to recent reports , he may not know either. But it certainly made more sense after this episode.

3. There aren’t a lot of LIV revelations.

A number of LIV golfers participated in Full Swing , from Koepka to Dustin Johnson to Ian Poulter to smaller characters like Joaquin Niemann. Most of those players’ story lines culminated in their jumps to LIV and the reasons they ultimately chose to make the leap.

The most common explanation, unsurprisingly, was providing for their families. Poulter’s episode shows him palling around with his four children, interspersed with shots of him struggling in tournaments and ultimately failing to qualify for the Masters, making it apparent that golf may not be the cash cow it once was for him. We’ve already covered Koepka’s struggles, and he’s similarly said that he made the choice to provide for the family he’s starting and the generations to come. Johnson is probably the most honest of the bunch, admitting that his decision came down to the offer they made him—nothing more. “For me it was playing less, making more money,” Johnson says. “Pretty simple.”

Outside of those story arcs, though, if you were hoping for much more insight into the LIV-PGA battles or what pros were really saying about the squabbles, you won’t see much here. Full Swing airs clips from a couple of contentious press conferences and gets into the PGA Tour’s response later in the season, but there isn’t a whole lot more than that.

4. Phil Mickelson notably didn’t participate—and neither did Tiger Woods.

Tiger’s specter looms large across Full Swing , from his post-accident Masters appearance to his role in helping reshape the PGA Tour in the wake of LIV to interviews with the next generation, who all cite him as their inspiration. It’s notable that he doesn’t sit down for an interview for the show, but it’s not all that surprising: Tiger was going through a lot last year, and it’s not like he needs the publicity.

There is, however, an even bigger absence than Woods in Full Swing : Phil Mickelson. The man who led the charge away from the Tour and to LIV Golf is the biggest missing voice from the series. Now, given that Full Swing was created in conjunction with the PGA Tour, it’s not at all shocking that Mickelson would choose not to be included (I assume the show’s creators would have reached out). But it is tough not to get his firsthand perspective on all the goings-on—even if there’s little chance we would have gotten more transparency than there was in his quotes in this piece .

5. Joel Dahmen and the rookies will undoubtedly have lots of new fans.

One of the biggest successes of Drive to Survive , the Netflix docuseries about Formula One (made by Box to Box productions, which also produced Full Swing ), is its ability to make you care about the midfield. You don’t see the drivers from Mercedes or Ferrari at all in the first season, other than in canned Sky Sports clips about their on-track performance; instead, the show introduces you to the other guys behind the wheel—Daniel Ricciardo, Romain Grosjean, young Charles Leclerc—and gets you invested in their respective journeys.

This is a big win for Full Swing as well, which spends multiple episodes following rookies Sahith Theegala and Mito Pereira and PGA Tour everyman Joel Dahmen. Dahmen, in particular, will likely become a fan favorite, not just for his bucket hats and on-again, off-again mustache, but also because of his laid-back attitude and self-deprecating mental state. It never feels like he’s sandbagging when he says he doesn’t believe he has what it takes to win major championships or to become one of the top 30 or so golfers in the world. His caddie, Geno Bonnalie, speculates at one point that Dahmen may not even want to be in that company. It just makes it that much sweeter, then, when we watch Dahmen surge to the top of the 2022 U.S. Open leaderboard and ultimately finish tied for 10th.

The rookies similarly paint heartwarming pictures. Theegala and his family are incredibly emotional about golf, not afraid to show how much the game means to them and how much Theegala wants to succeed. And there’s Pereira, who has the tournament of his life at the PGA Championship only to see it come to a teeth-grinding halt at the 72nd hole.

All three of these guys are likable and great at golf, and the Full Swing fan base is undoubtedly invested in their success now.

6. The “Who is this for?” discourse has a point.

Whenever a show like this is made, there’s always one central question: Who is this for? Was it created for newbies who are just coming to the sport? Or for the old guard who’s been around awhile? The answer is usually somewhere in between—or at least that’s what the companies behind the series will say; after all, they’re trying to attract the biggest audience possible. But with Full Swing , the discourse around this question has been notable, and in some ways the criticism is fair.

If you’re new to golf and you watched this season, you probably learned a lot about the structure of tournaments, the notable personalities on Tour, and how the sport generally functions. What you didn’t learn, though, was much about the ways tournaments differentiate themselves from one another—sure, they often say the majors are important, but when it comes to individual players’ story lines, Tony Finau’s win at the 3M Championship carries a weight similar to that of Matt Fitzpatrick’s U.S. Open victory. You also may not fully understand why LIV is such an existential threat to the PGA Tour (outside of poaching its talent) or why the sides have had such contentious back-and-forths.

If you’re more familiar with golf, you may feel like you weren’t told much about the players that you didn’t already know. Sure, it was cool to see the old notebooks we’ve heard about Fitzpatrick writing in for so many years, to witness Finau’s unflinching commitment to his family, to get deeper insight into Koepka’s demise. But really, if you didn’t already know that Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are close friends, it seems like that’s on you.

Will this show end up creating new golf fans, à la the Formula One boom in the United States? Only time will tell. Will existing golf fans start to feel like the material is more suited to them in later seasons? I think there’s a good chance of that. But I understand those who feel a bit stuck in the middle at this point and are questioning who this series is trying to serve.

7. There are too many Jupiter, Florida, title cards to count.

OK, that’s a lie; I did count, and there are seven. That’s right, people: seven Jupiter cards in eight episodes. If you feel like every golfer you’ve ever heard of resides in Jupiter, you’re probably right.

8. I can’t wait for Season 2.

I’ve levied a few critiques in this piece, and this first season wasn’t perfect by any means. But as a Drive to Survive fan who’s watched that show evolve over four (soon to be five) seasons, I’m optimistic that Full Swing can do the same.

The challenge of any first season of a show like this is introducing a cast of characters—giving the audience people they’ll want to follow over the years—and to simultaneously educate new fans on the game and the structures behind it. Full Swing has started that process. The question now is whether they can build on it in a way that pushes the show forward and eventually allows for more complexities. Box to Box has done this once already, and with that formula (sorry) already in place, I don’t think there’s any reason they shouldn’t be able to continue in the same way with golf.

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Your guide to watching Netflix's PGA Tour 'Full Swing' series

After months of speculation about what viewers will see, the docuseries that follows various pga tour players during the 2022 season is about to drop.

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The highly anticipated Netflix docuseries "Full Swing," which peels back the curtain on the PGA Tour's biggest names, has finally arrived. Other than for the popcorn, here is what you need to know about the series.

The series was announced in September 2021, well before the LIV Golf uproar that made this series even more compelling. Box to Box Films, which worked on Netflix's blockbuster F1 series "Drive to Survive" was involved in this project that focuses on one or two players per episode. Chad Mumm, the Chief Creative Officer for Vox Media Studios, is the executive producer.

Where To Watch: Netflix. Number Of Episodes: 8. Release: All 8 episodes, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 3 a.m. ET.

What They Are Writing: > Golfweek: Full Swing Q&A: Executive producer Chad Mumm previews breakout stars, storylines and what to expect from the new Netflix series | Read > PGATour.com: Stars walk green carpet for Netflix premiere of ‘Full Swing' | Read > The Telegraph: Netflix's 'Full Swing' is an unappetising TV turn-off | Read > Golf Digest: Behind the scenes of Netflix's highly anticipated golf docuseries | Read > GQ: Golf's existential crisis is coming to Netflix | Read

EPISODE 1: Frenemies Length: 49 minutes. Preview: Friends since competing at youth tournaments, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas see their friendly rivalry amped up on the PGA Tour. Featured: Dylan Dethier, Sean Foley, Rickie Fowler, Michael Greller, Dan Rapaport, Amanda Renner, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Mike Thomas.

EPISODE 2: Win Or Go Home Length:  40 minutes. Preview: Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka heads to the 2022 Masters without a win since the 2021 WM Phoenix Open, nearly 14 months earlier. Can he win his 5th major and first Masters? Featured: Dylan Dethier, Sean Foley, Brooks Koepka, Dan Rapaport, Amanda Renner, Scottie Scheffler, Meredith Scudder, Jena Sims.

EPISODE 3: Money Or Legacy Length: 39 minutes. Preview: In the lead up to the PGA Championship, Ian Poulter finds himself at a crossroads. Does he stay with the DP World and PGA tours — and, in doing so, preserve his Ryder Cup legacy — or does he join the lucrative upstate LIV Golf? Featured: Ian Poulter, Luke Poulter, Katie Poulter

EPISODE 4: Imposter Syndrome Length:  42 minutes. Preview: While Joel Dahmen has won — once — on the PGA Tour, the easy-going and self-deprecating player opens up about his level of confidence in his game. The episode follows his jouney from qualifying for the U.S. Open to his week at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Featured: Geno Bonalie, Lona Dahmen, Joel Dahmen, Max Homa.

EPISODE 5: American Dreams Length: 47 minutes. Preview: LIV Golf is finally launched and has signed one of the PGA Tour's biggest stars — Dustin Johnson, who explains his rationale for his decision. Matt Fitzpatrick also returns to the site of his U.S. Amateur title, The Country Club, to add a second USGA title to his collection — the U.S. Open. Featured:  Matt Fitzpatrick, Billy Foster, Paulina Gretzky, Austin Johnson, Dustin Johnson, Thomas Pieters, Dan Rapaport.

EPISODE 6: "Don't Get Bitter, Get Better" Length: 44 minutes. Preview: The episode title is based off a Tiger Woods quote and looks at the careers and lives of Tony Finau and Collin Morikawa, both of whom began playing golf after being inspired by Woods. Featured: Alayna Finau, Tony Finau, Collin Morikawa, Katherine Zhu.

EPISODE 7: Golf is Hard Length: 46 minutes. Preview: The focus is on PGA Tour rookies Sahith Theegala and Mito Pereira as each learns that winning isn't easy. Both players lose leads on the back nine on Sunday — Theegala at the WM Phoenix Open and Pereira at the PGA Championship. Featured: Joaquin Niemann, Mito Pereira, Antonia Prida , Sahith Theegala.

EPISODE 8: Everything Has Led To This Length: 47 minutes. Preview: Rory McIlroy takes center stage as the episode follows him from the 150th British Open at St. Andrews through to his winning the FedEx Cup. All the while, McIlroy is outspoken in his support for the PGA Tour as the controversy with LIV Golf heats up. Featured: Rory McIlroy.

Netflix Announces PGA Tour Docu-Series ‘Full Swing’ Premiere Date, Releases Trailer

By Todd Spangler

Todd Spangler

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Netflix revealed “ Full Swing ” as the title of its upcoming docu-series following the PGA Tour and its biggest stars, and also announced the premiere date and dropped a trailer for the show.

The eight-episode series will debut globally on Netflix on Feb. 15. “Full Swing” showcases PGA players through their wins and losses, promising a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to compete — and win — at the highest levels in men’s pro golf, per Netflix’s description. Defending PGA Champion Justin Thomas (above left, with Jordan Spieth) are among the stars featured in the show. ( Watch the trailer below. )

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The series provides an inside look at the PGA’s biggest events for the first time ever, including the 150th Open Championship last year at St. Andrews in Scotland, The Players, The Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and the FedExCup Playoffs.

“Full Swing” was produced in partnership with the PGA Tour by Vox Media Studios and Box to Box Films, the company behind Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.” The series executive producers are Vox Media Studios’ Chad Mumm and Mark Olsen and Paul Martin and James Gay-Rees with Box to Box Films.

Watch the “Full Swing” trailer:

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Meet the 16 liv golf players in the field for the 2024 pga championship at valhalla, share this article.

For the second consecutive year there will be 16 LIV Golf players in the field at the PGA of America’s flagship event.

Three-time champion Brooks Koepka will look to defend his title at the upcoming 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, May 16-19, and he’ll be joined by two other past champions in Martin Kaymer (2010) and Phil Mickelson (2005, 2021). On the flip side, two LIV players (Andy Ogletree, David Puig) will make their debuts at the second men’s major championship of the season.

Meet the 16 LIV Golf players competing in this year’s PGA Championship at Valhalla.

Dean Burmester

Dean Burmester of Stinger GC during the final round of the LIV Golf Mayakoba tournament at El Chamaleon Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

Best PGA Championship finish: 54 (2023)

Bryson DeChambeau

Bryson DeChambeau waves to patrons as he walks up to the No. 18 green during the final round of the Masters Tournament. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Network

Best PGA Championship finish: T-4 (2020, 2023)

Talor Gooch

Talor Gooch plays his shot from the eighth tee during day one of the 2024 LIV Golf Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club. (Photo: Lionel Ng/Getty Images)

Best PGA Championship finish: T-20 (2022)

Tyrrell Hatton

Tyrrell Hatton of Legion XIII gestures during day one of the LIV Golf Invitational – Mayakoba at El Camaleon at Mayakoba on February 02, 2024 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. (Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)

Best PGA Championship finish: T-10 (2016, 2018)

Lucas Herbert

Lucas Herbert of Australia reacts to his putt on the 14th green during the first round of the Fortinet Championship at Silverado Resort and Spa on September 14, 2023 in Napa, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)

Best PGA Championship finish: T-13 (2022)

Dustin Johnson

Dustin Johnson of the 4 Aces plays his shot from the fifth tee during the first round of LIV Golf Miami golf tournament at Trump National Doral. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Best PGA Championship finish: 2 (2019), T-2 (2020)

Martin Kaymer

Martin Kaymer of Germany holds the Wanamaker Trophy after winning a playoff in the U.S. PGA Championship Aug. 15, 2010, at Whistling Straits.

Best PGA Championship finish: Winner (2010)

Brooks Koepka

Brooks Koepka celebrates after winning the PGA Championship golf tournament at Oak Hill Country Club. (Photo: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports)

Best PGA Championship finish: Win (2018, 2019, 2023)

Adrian Meronk

Adrian Meronk of Cleeks GC hits his shot from the fifth tee during the second round of LIV Golf Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Golf Club Fanling on Saturday, March 09, 2024 in Fanling, Hong Kong. (Photo by Doug DeFelice/LIV Golf)

Best PGA Championship finish: T-40 (2023)

Phil Mickelson

Phil Mickelson walks off the No. 7 green during the final round of the Masters Tournament. (Photo: Katie Goodale-USA TODAY Network)

Best PGA Championship finish: Win (2005, 2021)

Joaquin Niemann

Joaquin Niemann of Torque GC hits a tee shot on the 3st hole during day two of the LIV Golf Invitational – Hong Kong at The Hong Kong Golf Club on March 09, 2024 in Hong Kong, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Best PGA Championship finish: T-23 (2022)

Andy Ogletree

Andy Ogletree follows his tee shot on the second hole during day two of the LIV Golf Invitational – DC at Trump National Golf Club on May 27, 2023 in Sterling, Virginia. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Best PGA Championship finish: Debut

David Puig during LIV Golf Adelaide at Grange Golf Club. (Photo: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports)

Captain Jon Rahm of Legion XIII hits his shot from the 14th tee during the first round of LIV Golf Adelaide at the Grange Golf Club on Friday, April 26, 2024 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by LIV Golf)

Best PGA Championship finish: T-4 (2018)

Patrick Reed

Patrick Reed of 4Aces GC plays his shot from the sixteenth tee during day one of the LIV Golf Invitational – Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club on May 03, 2024 in Singapore, Singapore. (Photo by Lionel Ng/Getty Images)

Best PGA Championship finish: T-2 (2017)

Cameron Smith

Cameron Smith acknowledges the crowd after a putt on the seventh green during the first round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Liverpool. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Best PGA Championship finish: Fourth (2023)

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2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson prize money payouts for each PGA Tour player

It pays to play well on the PGA Tour. Just ask  this week’s winner, Taylor Pendrith .

The 32-year-old won the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, on Sunday after a late birdie on the 72nd hole to secure his first-ever win on the PGA Tour in his 74th start.

For his efforts, Pendrith will take home the top prize of $1.71 million, while Kohles, who was in the lead before a bogey on the par-5 18th, will bank $1.03 million as a consolation prize.

With $9 million up for grabs, check out how much money each PGA Tour player earned this week at the 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson near Dallas.

Prize money payouts

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: 2024 CJ Cup Byron Nelson prize money payouts for each PGA Tour player

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The in-fighting over how to best fatten wallets on the PGA Tour is causing tension between some of the biggest names in the sport.

Rory McIlroy’s attempt to return to the tour’s player advisory board was resisted by some current members, including Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay , according to Golf Digest.

Mcilroy confirmed Wednesday ahead of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club that he would not rejoin the board after he gave up his seat in November.

Golf Digest reported that while still cordial, Woods and McIlroy’s relationship has “soured over the past six months” and that the pair have had a “falling out” due to differing views over the best path forward for the sport.

Some players on the board balked at the idea of veteran Webb Simpson vacating his seat on the condition that it went directly to McIlroy, as those spots are generally voted on.

“I think it just … it got pretty complicated and pretty messy and I think with the way it happened, I think it opened up some old wounds and scar tissue from things that have happened before,” McIlroy said Wednesday.

“I think there was a subset of people on the board that were maybe uncomfortable with me coming back on for some reason … I think Webb just stays on and sees out his term, and I think he’s gotten to a place where he’s comfortable with doing that and I just sort of keep doing what I’m doing. So yeah, I put my hand up to help and it was — I wouldn’t say it was rejected, it was a complicated process to get through to put me back on there. So that’s all fine, no hard feelings and we’ll all move on.”

On the heels of that news, The Associated Press reported that Woods would be the only player negotiating with PIF — the financial arm of the Saudi Arabian government — as part of a transaction subcommittee that also includes PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, board chairman Joe Gorder, John W. Henry of Fenway Sports Group and Joe Ogilvie, a former tour player appointed as a director liaison in March.

The issues started nearly two years ago when players began defecting for the rebel LIV Golf league that is funded by PIF.

The PGA and PIF agreed to a shocking framework deal last June that would ostensibly merge the PGA and LIV.

Eleven months later, details remain vague on any progress that has been accomplished.

Meanwhile, the flood of players bolting for LIV has only grown.

That was led by Jon Rahm’s shocking decision to switch tours in December for a reported $450 million.

In January, Spieth — who took McIlroy’s spot on the board — questioned whether the PGA needs PIF at all.

Spieth’s comments came after a $1.5 billion cash infusion for PGA Tour Enterprises came from a group of high-profile investors, led by Fenway Sports and including Mets owner Steve Cohen.

It led to McIlroy leaving a group text with Spieth and other players.

That $1.5 billion, in part, was paid to PGA players as a loyalty reward.

Woods pocketed $100 million, McIlroy $50 million and Spieth $30 million, according to The Telegraph.

As the players continue to fight over the money, the game remains divided with some of the sport’s best playing for LIV, which has garnered minuscule interest from viewers.

And at the same time, PGA Tour ratings have sagged.

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