Netflix and PGA Tour Team up
Netflix is teeing up to showcase the lives and careers of North America’s top professional golfers in its upcoming documentary series.
On January 12, the streamer announced that it would be partnering with the PGA Tour and several of the sport’s major championships across a season of high-stakes competition to give viewers a look inside the intensity of training, travel, victory, and defeat through the players and their support teams.
Series Name?
The yet-to-be-named series will cover the four major championships as well as The Players Championship and FedEx Cup.
Player list:
Netflix also released a number of the players who are committed to the series, which boasts some of the Tour’s biggest players, including: Abraham Ancer, Brooks Koepka, Bubba Watson, Cameron Champ, Collin Morikawa, Daniel Berger, Dustin Johnson, Harry Higgs, Ian Poulter, Joel Dahmen, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Kevin Na, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Max Homa, Mito Pereira, Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Tommy Fleetwood, Tony Finau, Viktor Hovland, and Xander Schauffele.
According to Netflix, Keita Nakajima, the world’s top amateur golfer, will also be featured in the documentary series as he competes in the first major championships of his career.
More opportunities for the viewers
PGA Tour Chief Media Officer Rick Anderson said that the PGA and Netflix partnership represents an opportunity to jump into a completely new and diverse audience. The Netflix documentary will give viewers all the insights into the real lives of each athlete. What it’s like to win, what it’s like to lose. What an entire season on the PGA Tour is like. This is going to be exciting.
Top tier file studio
The series will be produced by Vox Media Studios and Box To Box Films. Box To Box Films boasts a previous documentary series on Netflix titled Formula 1: Drive to Survive — a three-season series that takes a behind-the-scenes look at the drivers and races of the Formula One World Championship. The series has followed the 2018 – 2020 championships thus far and has received critical praise for drawing new viewers to the sport of race car driving.
In a statement on January 12, Netflix Vice President of Unscripted and Documentary Series Brandon Riegg said the company hopes its PGA Tour documentary series will do the same for the sport of golf.
First of its kind partnership
This is a first-of-its-kind partnership that will bring Netflix streaming into the lives of the individual golfers. Nothing can be more exciting! Golf fans have not even seen this side of any kind of sport. The Netflix community will have a great time getting to know each player and their characteristics. The documentary will also show some of the most spectacular iconic venues.
A different perspective
Based on the success of Drive to Survive, the upcoming golf docuseries is likely to boast a fairly all-access view of the sport. During its first season, eight of the 10 Formula 1 teams participated, but by season 2, all 10 had signed on to offer fans a look inside the championship.
The PGA Tour series is likely also to follow a similar format to its racing counterpart — which offers a look not just at training and racing life but also at the athletes’ home life, giving a well-rounded perspective on their careers.
Golf the most popular sport?
Golf is one of the most popular sports in America. Approximately 108 million people in the United States — about one-third of all Americans over the age of six — either watch, read about, or play golf (or all three). Each year, the number of golf enthusiasts continues to grow by millions of people.
A different approach
Despite its popularity, most documentaries about the sport have focused on individual players rather than the overall landscape of the sport. Last year, HBO released a documentary called Tiger, which followed Tiger Woods through his career and gave fans access to never-before-seen footage.
Similar documentaries
Other documentaries about golf include The Founders, which documents the story of the trailblazing women who decided to create a name for themselves in the sport at a time when American culture barred women from any sport that was “too manly.” Similarly, Uneven Fairways tracks the history of African Americans in golf who paved the way for some of the biggest stars in the sport today.
Eyes of the players
The new PGA Tour docuseries will likely offer a more in-depth look at the present landscape of the golfing world through the lens of some of the world’s top players. This will also be the first time that Tour officials will provide unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to golf’s biggest events.
In its announcement about the series, the PGA Tour promised to bring viewers a glimpse inside the competition “as you’ve never seen it before.”
Streaming Date?
According to the organization, filming is currently underway and is set to continue through the entirety of 2022. So far, Netflix has not set a release date for the docuseries. The series also still needs to be named, which will likely be announced in a forthcoming update on the series.
Long Bombs Golf Final Say:
While it may seem a while away, it is just around the corner. Hopefully, the 2022 season will bring us some great views along with some great golf. Whether or not you don’t Do you plan to watch this new documentary when it comes out?