The PGA Tour is coming to Netflix.
The long-rumored collab was made official on Wednesday in statements from both the streaming giant as well as the Tour. In an effort to recreate something similar to the service’s wildly popular F1 docuseries Drive to Survive, Netflix and the PGA Tour have linked up with Vox Media and the producers of the F1 series, Box to Box Media, to create the golf equivalent.
According to reporting from Golf.com , Netflix cameras began shooting their first interviews with players at last month’s Hero World Challenge, fueling the speculation inside media circles of who would be featured in the first season of the show.
The cat’s out of the bag, however, as Netflix announced its full roster of players on Wednesday, which includes five of the top-7 players in the Official World Golf Rankings.
- Alphabetically, here are the players who have committed to the project: Abraham Ancer, Daniel Berger, Cameron Champ, Joel Dahmen, Tony Finau, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Harry Higgs, Max Homa, Viktor Hovland, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Kevin Na, Mito Pereira, Ian Poulter, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, and Bubba Watson as well as the world’s No. 1-ranked amateur golfer, Keita Nakajima.
From Vox Media Studios and the production team behind F1: DRIVE TO SURVIVE, the series will go inside the ropes and behind the scenes of golf's biggest events, including The Players, the FedExCup, and all four major championships.
— Netflix UK & Ireland (@NetflixUK) January 12, 2022
Perhaps of more importance to some golf fans, Netflix was able to barter a deal with all four major championships to ensure access at the biggest events of the year, no small feat considering the main negotiations took place with the Tour, which runs exactly zero of the four biggest events of the year (much to their chagrin).
Furthermore, the protective veil of the PGA Tour won’t hang over the series, a concern for many fans who feel the Tour’s obsession with a squeaky-clean image of their game and members obfuscates the truth in many instances.
- “We do not have editorial control,” a Tour spokesperson said. “We will be involved to the extent that Netflix and the producers have the access they need to film at our events. We want them to make a great show, and we all agree the documentary needs to be as authentic as possible.”
Filming will take place over the course of the 2022 season, wrapping up in August at the Tour Championship. As for its release, Drive to Survive has debuted on Netflix dashboards a week or two ahead of the following F1 season.
However, as golf fans know, the PGA Tour’s offseason lasts roughly six hours, so it’s better to temper expectations and plan to see the show released in early 2023.
