By Canadian Press

Netflix docuseries “Full Swing” promises unprecedented access to PGA Tour

Feb 15, 2023 | 1:50 PM

Before “F1: Drive to Survive,” “Cheer,” or “Last Chance U,” Chad Mumm was pushing for a documentary series on the PGA Tour, one that would follow some of the best male golfers in the world.

When it finally got green lit in 2019, Mumm had no idea that his cameras would be in position for one of the most dramatic seasons in PGA Tour history, as several players broke off to join the upstart LIV Tour in 2022.

“Watching it unfold in real time, I mean, it still took us by surprise,” said Mumm in a recent interview. “We had heard an inkling of it, but no one knew how fast it was going to happen and how aggressively.”

Viewers can now watch the drama unfold. The first season of “Full Swing” was released on Wednesday in Canada and the United States. 

The eight-episode arc follows a who’s-who of golf including Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Ian Poulter, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, and Tony Finau as they grapple with the fallout of the new rival golf tour and try to win some of the most competitive golf tournaments in the world.

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Mumm, an Emmy Award-winning chief creative officer at Vox Media Studios and an executive producer on “Full Swing,” said it was amazing to see how quickly the friendly atmosphere of the PGA Tour soured.

“Not everyone’s best friends, but there’s a general kind of camaraderie, and to see that in a period of days get completely shattered was stunning,” said Mumm, who noted that the LIV Tour’s Saudi Arabian backing also complicated things. “Everybody had an opinion and they’re getting asked these geopolitical questions. 

“Golfers aren’t known for being that outspoken in general and now you’re thrust into this kind of geopolitics thing and there’s so much money now that’s being tossed around. It became a real question of where your loyalties lie.”

There is some CanCon for Canadian viewers, too.

Sean Foley of Burlington, Ont., who worked with Tiger Woods as a coach starting in 2010, is a prominent voice throughout the series, providing context and background for viewers newer to golf. 

Mumm said that if there is a second season, he’d like to see even more Canadian content.

“I don’t know if the Canadian Open got the spotlight as much as we would have wanted it to,” said Mumm. 

Played for the first time in three years due to the COIVD-19 pandemic — and on the same week as the LIV Tour’s debut event — McIlroy held off Finau by two strokes to win the Canadian Open and defend the title he won in 2019. 

“It was such an epic finish with (Rory McIlroy) and (Tony Finau) that we wish that we could have been there.

“This year our hope is to be there in person and be able to actually like blow it out.”

PGA TOUR — Five Canadians are in the men’s world golf rankings for the first time ever, and all five of them are competing at The Genesis Invitational this week. Corey Conners (No. 37) of Listowel, Ont., Mackenzie Hughes (53) of Dundas, Ont., Adam Hadwin (63) of Abbotsford, B.C., Adam Svensson (69) of Surrey, B.C., and Nick Taylor (73), also from Abbotsford, are in the field at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

CHAMPIONS TOUR — Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., is the lone Canadian in the field at the Chubb Classic, which tees off at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Fla., on Friday. Calgary’s Stephen Ames is No. 1 on the Charles Schwab Cup Money list after winning the Trophy Hassan II last week. He’s taking this week off after the victory. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2023.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press