‘Full Swing’: golf as we have never seen it (or almost) | Television

You could say it’s “golf like you’ve never seen it” and it would be true. Or almost. From the introduction of the first chapter, as if from a thriller in question, the fan can feel a certain emotion that is maintained throughout the eight chapters of Full Swing. Indeed, the Netflix docuseries takes advantage of privileged access to many of the world’s top stars of the sport to offer an interesting and entertaining documentary. They are looking for an impact similar to the one that the Formula 1 series is having, which has triggered global interest in this sport, and its…

You could say it’s “golf like you’ve never seen it” and it would be true. Or almost. From the introduction of the first chapter, as if from a thriller in question, the fan can feel a certain emotion that is maintained throughout the eight chapters of Full Swing. Indeed, the Netflix docuseries takes advantage of privileged access to many of the world’s top stars of the sport to offer an interesting and entertaining documentary. They are looking for an impact similar to the one that the Formula 1 series is having, which has triggered global interest in this sport, and its business, to unknown limits.

If it had been drawn up a year earlier, the story would have been different, but the world of golf is experiencing critical moments of division and disputes with the appearance of the Saudi League (LIV) and the producers have been able to take advantage of it. The friendship story of two of the best golfers of recent times, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, friends and rivals since they were 13 years old, sets the tone for the first episode, which is more introspective and slower in tone. The presence of the cameras changes everything, whether it is admitted or not, but the story works. The documentary is supported at all times by a mixture of images outside the fields (training, leisure, their families, their homes) and a selection of the best moments from some of the tournaments in which the protagonists have participated. This has a special merit in that all the images (whether Netflix’s own material with the environment of the stars in the field or from the channels that have the rights) are relevant to the story. That means they’ve either recorded a lot of material or been very lucky, or maybe a bit of both. The participation of trainers (Sean Foley), journalists (Amanda Renner) and people you don’t normally see like agent Laura Moses round out the cast.

Brooks Koepka was addicted to victory. He was the best in the world between 2018 and 2019, a specialist in winning big, but he went to LIV for money. Before, some of his magic had run out and that is seen in the home scenes, in which the golfer does not hide his bitterness. Scottie Scheffler is the reverse of him. He arrives with astonishing tranquility, in that magical succession that sometimes happens in golf: a shot that changes a tournament, a victory that changes a season, a month that changes a life. The Texan wins in the comparison.

money, lots of money

The third chapter is titled money or legacybut it should be More money or legacy because the business figures at that level are dizzying and the only thing the Saudis have done is increase them even more and not associate sporting success with economic benefit. The docuseries is balanced with other more human stories, such as Joel Dahmen, an average golfer and an extraordinary guy whose life and professional adventure we know, again, with images that are difficult to see in the world of sports and even in golf, yes. Well, golfers are much more open with the media than almost any other sportsman.

There are other similar moments, such as the one starring Tony Finau, a man who has come from far, far below and an alien as well: he travels with his entire large family, because first he is a father and then a golfer. A comforting story. And in this game of opposites that the docuseries articulates, he is compared to Colin Morikawa, the golden boy, the perfectionist, the natural talent, the machine. “Being selfish is a good thing,” he says, always focused on himself and improving himself. The rhythm works perfectly.

Another of those stories is that of Matthew Fitzpatrick and how he comes to win the US Open. It is a great epic and he is an extraordinary player, but it is surprising that the only golfer of the best of the moment, Jon Rahm, appears for less than a minute and that such a well-prepared and documented series passes over one of the great phenomena of the game. golf of the last decades.

How could it be otherwise, Full Swing it ends with a chapter on the future of a divided sport. The golf break, which hovers throughout the footage, reaches its maximum expression here. And with her, the figure of Rory McIlroy, the great bulwark of traditional golf (money, a lot of money, but something else), an exceptional athlete and an image for future generations. It is a hagiographic chapter, but the narrative does not lose its pulse.

The docuseries has an episode titled golf is very hard (The fans know: it’s a sport in which you spend your life watching others win) but you don’t really go all the way. The documentary could have seen the other side of golf, the midweek qualifying qualifiers, the tournaments for a few dollars where the pros try not to lose and not miss out, the golfers who drop money in second-rate competitions in which they don’t Not even the cut passes, tourist class trips and not private jets, professionals in backward positions on secondary circuits, bags of clubs lost in airports, weeks, months, far from home. I could have, yes. But Full Swing He is looking for the show and we are not going to blame him here.

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