After the success of Netflix’s F1 sports series “Drive to Survive,” the streaming service partnered with the producers to create an 8-part, behind-the-scenes look at the PGA Tour called Full Swing.
Full Swing’s first episode focuses on the friendship of two of the PGA Tour’s best players, three-time major winner Jordan Spieth and 2017 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas.
At the beginning of the 2022 season, Spieth continued to search for the magic that made him a bonafide sensation on the PGA Tour in the mid-2010s.
In the void left by an injury and scandal-ridden Tiger Woods, Spieth stepped up and won three majors early in his career, but recently the Dallas native has struggled to win tournaments.
For Thomas, with his only major win coming five years prior in 2017, the Florida native needs more major championships to solidify his legacy as one of the era’s top golfers.
The episode does an admirable job of showing the audience what a professional golfer needs to accomplish to be successful every week.
Commonly called “the grind,” the audience follows the two golfers during workouts, training sessions, and plane rides to practice rounds.
Perhaps somewhat annoyingly for golf fans, the episode breaks momentum to explain the fundamentals of scoring and the machinations of PGA Tour tournaments.
Annoyances aside, the episode’s heart documents the thrilling 2022 PGA Championship, held at Southern Hills Golf Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After being paired with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, Spieth struggles to find his footing at Southern Hills.
But Thomas hangs on through three rounds and miraculously puts together a solid fourth round to enter a playoff with Will Zalatoris.
Although serious golf fans already know the result of the tournament, with Thomas claiming his 2nd major title five years after his 2017 PGA Championship, Full Swing’s dramatic music and lightning-fast editing provide enough drama to pull the audience back into the immediacy of the moment.
At 49 minutes, the series’ longest episode isn’t necessarily its best, but focusing on the outstanding 2022 PGA Championship provides the hook to bring watchers back for more episodes.
Check the official trailer:
Check our review of every Full Swing episode: