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Full Swing Season Two Recap: Episodes 1-4

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Full Swing is back!

The celebrated documentary series on Netflix has made its return for a second season with plenty of the same cast of characters in the mix – and no shortage of drama.

While we’re well aware of the golfing news of 2023 – the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and LIV Golf coming to an agreement for a go-forward plan, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Wyndham Clark, and Brian Harman winning majors, and of course, Europe’s big Ryder Cup triumph – we’ve never seen the behind-the-scenes details like what unfolds when the Netflix cameras roll.

Here’s everything you need to know about the second season of Full Swing!

EPISODE 1 – The Game Has Changed Part 1

(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
MAIN FOCUS

We open with a recap of everything that happened through 2022 and the battle (or, well, “battle”) between those who have left for LIV Golf and those who have stayed on the PGA Tour. The rest of the episode really focuses on Rory McIlroy, as he aims to win his fifth major championship, and Brooks Koepka, as he does win his fifth major – capturing the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club after finishing tied for second at the Masters.

BEST MOMENT

The lightest moment of the episode occurred at the beginning when Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth were hitting balls on the driving range against a port-a-potty (really occupied by Canadian Adam Hadwin), while the most important/eye-opening moment came after McIlroy had some Sunday struggles at the PGA Championship (won by Koepka) and admits he was close to wanting to do a “complete re-boot” of his game. Having cameras in the locker room for that moment is exactly what makes this Netflix program so special.

WHAT WE LEARNED

That you can’t be all things to all people. While there was a bit of a “redemption” arc for Koepka returning to the winners’ circle at a major championship after a few years of doubt coupled with physical health ailments, the McIlroy storyline made people realize how much he was really managing and trying to handle while also attempting to be one of the best golfers in the world. Part of the problem with his game, he admits, was the pressure to be the spokesman of the PGA Tour loyalists.

EPISODE 2 – The Game Has Changed Part 2

MAIN FOCUS

The opening of the episode sees viewers head to Canada on the day of the massive PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and DP World Tour go-forward framework announcement. All the players have no idea what’s going on, and there is plenty of frustration. While the episode didn’t hold on this part of the golf year too long, it continues to be a thread woven through the episode. There’s still golf to be played and we go to the U.S. Open, where most of the episode is centred around and the two main characters – Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler. Johnson acknowledges the decision to move to LIV was the right one for him and his family, while Fowler admits he was approached by the rival circuit, but it wasn’t a good choice. Fowler struggles mightily in the final round of the U.S. Open, throwing away a chance to win a major. But, two weeks later, he finds the winner’s circle on the PGA Tour for the first time in four years.

BEST MOMENT
(Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

The most emotional clip was after Fowler finally (finally!) won again on the PGA Tour and he got to celebrate with his family – and the emotionally charged speech he gave after his win. A neat only-for-TV moment came early in the episode when the Netflix cameras were inside the war room with Jay Monahan, the commissioner of the PGA Tour, and his communications staff as they prepared his remarks after the PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger announcement.

WHAT WE LEARNED

No matter which side you were on, both LIV golfers and PGA Tour golfers had really no idea about the new agreement announcement. And, that while some of the LIV golfers got their big paydays, they’re still as motivated as ever to win majors.

EPISODE 3 – Mind Game

MAIN FOCUS

We get two parallel path stories on two guys that are actually going in different directions with their golfing success in Wyndham Clark and Joel Dahmen. Dahmen, is, of course, the breakout star from the first season of Full Swing – but that fame has come at a price. Between that and he and his wife, Lona, having their first child on top of him playing the worst golf of his career, there’s an emotional crossroad for him. Clark, meanwhile, had a tough start to his professional career after being a celebrated collegiate star. He, like Dahmen, lost his mother from cancer. Clark finally began working with a sports psychologist – a woman who, his caddie thought, would make for a good “motherly figure” – and turned his on-course efforts around. He broke through to win the Wells Fargo Championship in 2023, followed by a tremendous victory at the U.S. Open when most of the crowd was cheering for either Rickie Fowler or Rory McIlroy. He thrived in that underdog role. Meanwhile, Dahmen continued to struggle and admits missing the cut at the U.S. Open was his lowest moment. Dahmen had an aversion to seeing a psychologist because, after his mom passed, he saw a grief counselor and that person impacted him negatively. However, by the end of the episode he says he’s ready to see someone and be a better version of himself.

BEST MOMENT

While the emotional release of Wyndham Clark’s major triumph was worth a celebration from the viewers, the final scene in the plane – featuring a tear-soaked conversation between Dahmen and his caddie, Geno Bonnalie – was both a gut-punch and the most powerful thing they’ve shown in two seasons. That was epic television. The best episode of the show’s two seasons.

WHAT WE LEARNED

Although the biggest emotional moment of the episode took place on a private plane you do realize even more that these guys, despite the money and the fame – are normal people who have suffered loss (both Clark and Dahmen have lost their mothers) and are trying to work through stuff. They’re very much human, in that regard.

EPISODE 4 – Prove It

MAIN FOCUS

Unlike the previous three episodes to start Season 2, this episode is only focused on Tom Kim. Kim broke through in a big way on the PGA Tour, winning twice before he turned 21 (that’s Tiger Woods-type success) and had an impressive rookie appearance at the Presidents Cup in 2022. Alas, he’s still young and admits he wants to be taken seriously – although two such shots prove otherwise as he says he ate peanut butter & jam sandwiches in the clubhouse at The Players (from the kids menu, presumably) and he rides around on a cooler in his home – but the breakthrough comes with plenty of demands on his time. He admits after doing a photoshoot for GQ(!) that the photo team told him his schedule sounded like a celebrity’s. But Kim says, of course, he’s a golfer, “we’re supposed to be practicing and doing nothing.” The need-to-compete-at-majors arc is completed by the time we get to the Open Championship, however, as he finishes tied for second – with a torn ligament in his ankle, to boot.

BEST MOMENT

There were two laugh-out-loud funny moments in this episode. The first is when the Netflix cameras follow Kim into the clubhouse at Augusta National. Turns out, though, it’s the Champions Locker Room and Kim says he knows that is not where he is supposed to be. In fact, he states, “I think this is against the rules.” The other great moment is re-living when Kim fell into the mud at the PGA Championship. Golf fans will recall that, of course, but the behind-the-scenes moments and reactions from the other pros were priceless.

WHAT WE LEARNED

That Tom Kim is a delight! It could have been an even better episode if the overarching narrative of Kim “has to” compete at a major (he goes on to win another PGA Tour event at the end of 2023) in order to somehow validate his early-career success. The best parts of the episode were when it just focused on Kim, the person, and it was awesome to see another side of him (which is kind of what this show should be all about).

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