Season 2 of Netflix's Full Swing is almost here, and here's what we've learned so far.
Netflix
Pacific Palisades, California. – Say what you will about the people who work at Netflix In full swingThey know when to drop the trailer.
Sure, there are plenty of acceptable times to release a teaser for a new season of a golf docuseries, but few would this author find more appropriate than Genesis Invitational Wednesday — the same day the PGA Tour annually hosts a VIP-only professional program at an exclusive private club In the shadow of Hollywood.
As celebrities and golf stars get ready to laugh and laugh at the Riviera this On Genesis on Wednesday, the bigwigs at Netflix seemed to agree, as they released our first look at the new season of the hit golf show to the world.
The 26-second trailer doesn't give away much in terms of substance, but it does reveal plenty of clues about the look and feel of Season 2, which will arrive on Netflix on March 6. And from the patio outside the Riviera Club on Wednesday afternoon, two people closely involved with the show — Netflix's vice president of reality sports programming Gabe Spitzer and Chris Wandell, the PGA Tour's vice president of media business development — offered a few more.
Below, we explore the 7 biggest things we learned about Season 2 of the new show, which premieres Wednesday on Riv.
7 clues about In full swing Season 2
1. The Ryder Cup is also the main focus
One of the big criticisms of In full swing The first season was its lack of momentum. In the first season, the series followed the 2022 season through the eyes of a handful of stars, but it struggled to show the connective tissue between the golf events. (Part of the reason for this is golf's struggle with… We take The connective tissue between its events, but I digress.)
This won't be an issue in season two. It doesn't take more than a few seconds of the teaser for viewers to know that the Ryder Cup will be a big focus of the new season, providing central narrative tension to document the show's 2023 year.
Justin Thomas' arc in the new season appears to (rightfully) follow his quest to land one of Zach Johnson's six captain's picks, and two of the show's eight episodes appear to be dedicated to documenting Team Europe's defeat in Rome.
Of course, Hatgate alone could merit an entire episode's coverage, so maybe this isn't exactly shocking news, but it qualifies as noteworthy.
2. Integration madness
The merger of the PGA Tour and PIF on June 6 seems like a long time ago, and that's probably good news for Netflix, because it looks as if In full swing Cameras were rolling all over the golf world when the news broke.
“I think you won't be surprised to hear that there was some drama at last year's Tour,” Spitzer said. “We've been behind the scenes for that, and so much more. If you've been following the game over the last year, I think you'll get a player's perspective on how it all unfolded.
One interesting direct character in those proceedings? None other than Rory McIlroy, whose fusion reaction is the biggest piece of must-see content captured by the show to date. And speaking of Rory…
3. The big guns are back
The trailer begins with an image that's sure to impress golf fans hoping to get some juice in regards to last year's ongoing PGA Tour/LIV run: Rory McIlroy sitting down for his Season 2 interview.
Rory, whose episode of the show was perhaps the most interesting part of the first season, returns again in 2023 to discuss the highs and lows of a tumultuous year as the voice of the PGA Tour en route to a dominant performance at the Ryder Cup. He's joined by Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Joel Dahmen and Matt Fitzpatrick in the role Full swing Recurring characters in the second season.
“In the first season, we were very happy with the way it turned out, but it was interesting to get out into the world,” Spitzer said. “I feel like that's what I'm really excited about in Season 2, and it's an extension of what we built in Season 1.”
4. New stars have arrived too
Netflix and PGA Tour executives seem impressed by the role played by two rookies — Tom Kim and Wyndham Clark — in the new season. Kim's place in the show's artwork that recreates his PGA Championship river adventure gives some hints about the direction of his episode, while Clark's episode certainly highlights his life-changing US Open victory in Los Angeles in June.
5. No The editing staff has been deep into the footage
Executive producer Chad Mumme raised eyebrows when he said the show had combed through 900 hours of Netflix footage and more than 10,000 hours of archival footage into the edit for season two.
Chris Wandell, vice president of media business development for the PGA Tour, raised these matters further on Wednesday when he revealed a startling statistic about Netflix's editorial team.
“We have a library of content — everything we shot on the PGA Tour — called our media asset management system,” Wandell said. “There is one person on the production team the biggest User of our system. It's an amazing thing. One hundred people use it.”
6. Season 3 is still up in the air … series
Filming has already begun In full swing Season 3, but Netflix executives haven't officially agreed to greenlight a third season of the show yet. However, Spitzer hinted that things are looking good.
“We always want to launch the next season and then see how it goes,” Spitzer said. “I'll just say, we're thrilled with how this series is doing, and we've continued filming. We don't want to miss any of these first three months.” [of the 2024 season] To decide. So, you know, we're filming, but we haven't officially announced anything.
Last year, the second season was given the green light within a few weeks of the first season's release. Assuming Season 2 performs as well as Season 1, a similar schedule can be expected here.
7. Also Netflix to choose Golf
The prevailing question facing many golf fans since the beginning of the show consists of two words: Why golf?
Since larger sports leagues offer easier access to name-brand stars and less of a hierarchical break (which is a pain when it comes to dealing with shooting approvals), it's fair to wonder what attracted Netflix to golf. This is especially confusing given that Netflix's larger machinations appear to be pushing the streaming giant closer to live sports, an area in which golf offers only limited opportunities.
But Spitzer seems to suggest that the path to golf was largely intentional.
“I talked about the larger growth strategy,” he said. “The reality is we are being beaten by every league at this stage that wants their own league In full swing Protect Driving to survive.”
It is not said: There is a reason for this In full swing exists, and those other offers don't exist.
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