McIlroy’s miss and Scheffler’s arrest dominate Full Swing’s return

Rory McIlroy stars prominently in the third season of Netflix’s Full Swing docu-series, which has just begun to be available on the streaming service despite missing four majors in his previous year.

The popular Formula 1 television series Drive to Survive is remade in this version of golf.

McIlroy initially resisted getting involved. The first season, which charted the golf campaign for 2022, saw only a passing performance from the Northern Irishman.

This time, it appears, he spent a lot of his time watching Netflix while he was there in 2024. He acknowledges that “sometimes I struggle to balance being the best dad, the best husband, and the best golfer.”

It is a candid admission, although detail is in short supply. However, there is plenty of drama and intrigue in following the 35-year-old through the ups and downs of the previous year.

Following their success together at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April, his close friendship with 2019 Open champion Shane Lowry is captured in the cameras. McIlroy makes a lovely comment about eating with only a fork, “like an American,” in a lovely instance.

Following a traffic incident on his way into the course, McIlroy filed for divorce from his wife Erica and Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was detained and put in jail after the incident.

The Full Swing crew did well to access police camera footage of the dramatic early morning arrest, despite it obvious that the world number one is less giving of his time to them.

This was the most stunning moment of the 2024 golf season, although charges were dropped within a fortnight. “Are you guys aware that I am playing in the golf tournament”? As he was bundled into a police car, Scheffler pleaded.

Along with giving the Netflix crews access to a lengthy interview that covers the key themes of the golfing year, McIlroy also grants them access to other major championship venues.

After Bryson DeChambeau won the US Open title at Pinehurst in June, the cameras are still rolling.

It becomes abundantly clear that McIlroy still resents his capitulation at that event in North Carolina despite the fact that he and Erica were back together when the major was played.

He claims the tournament’s climax was the hardest of his career and that his short, missed putt on the 16th “renewed Bryson into the championship.”

McIlroy did not want to speak with anyone when he left Pinehurst. “I think I did everyone a favour”, he says of his sharp exit from the scene of the year’s second major.

The narrative of the year is supported by familiar voices from the first two seasons, including Henni Zuel, Dan Rapaport, Dylan Dethier, and Amanda Balionis.

Their contributions must always be gratingly superficial, but they must always be. Their expertise extends far beyond what their basic excerpts reveal, golf enthusiasts will be aware.

A recent addition to the DeChambeau crossover appeal, Paige Spiranac, is an influential speaker. The two-time US Open champion has a good time explaining how he reinvented himself to become a favorite in the show.

The series is not particularly revelatory for those who devotedly follow professional golf. Then again, this show is not aimed at those viewers.

In the same way that Drive to Survive has done for Formula 1, the goal is to interest general sports fans more in professional golf. And it largely succeeds, which is why Netflix commissioned this third season.

While Ludvig Aberg gives fascinating access to his major debut when he finished second at the Masters last year, we see the biggest names on Happy Gilmore 2’s set.

As he moves closer to achieving his first major title, he will undoubtedly have many more fans as he continues on with his current trajectory, following his most recent victory at Torrey Pines. If he does, the series will have succeeded.