Rory McIlroy's arrival to the cast of Full Swing added significantly to the allure of Netflix's latest sporting docuseries, which launches on Wednesday morning.
The first season of Full Swing follows the golfers of the PGA Tour during the tumultuous 2022 season, which saw the inception of the breakaway LIV series split the golfing world down the middle.
McIlroy was one of the loudest voices against the Saudi-backed LIV series, and Full Swing provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes view of the Northern Irishman's clashes with some of those affiliated with the breakaway league, including an x-rated jab at Phil Mickelson.
Full Swing captures Rory McIlroy's LIV Golf battles behind the scenes
Balls.ie received early access to the first season of Full Swing and, throughout the first season, two topics hover over all proceedings - LIV Golf and Rory McIlroy.
The inception of the LIV Invitational Series in 2022 caused a major schism, with some of the world's best players defecting to the Saudi-backed breakaway league for huge sums. Early episodes of the series deal with the decisions of Brooks Koepka and Ian Poulter to join the series, and it is constantly referenced throughout the first seven of eight episodes - fitting, as discussions of LIV dominated the golfing world in 2022.
Koepka's decision to join LIV is particularly depressing in Full Swing, as the four time major winner bemoans his loss of form and questions how he can win on the PGA Tour again - before ultimately giving in to the huge cash on offer from LIV and effectively taking a step away from the Tour. Poulter, similarly, appears to value the short-term stability of the huge income from LIV over his passion project of becoming Ryder Cup captain.
Of course, one of the loudest - if not the loudest - voices to stand up on the side of the PGA Tour in 2022 was Rory McIlroy, and he is another topic that is ever present in the background of Full Swing. He is initially treated something like how Lewis Hamilton was in the first season of Drive to Survive, with his name inspiring awe as one of the tour's finest stars, despite McIlroy initially having little one-on-one interview time.
Rory McIlroy in Full Swing (Photo: Netflix)
That all changes in episode eight - aptly titled 'Everything Has Led To This'.
After a dramatic season, the producers of Full Swing choose to conclude proceedings with the thrilling battle for the Open Championship at St. Andrew's last summer - finally placing McIlroy in the spotlight, in a year where he arguably played the finest golf of his career.
McIlroy was to come up short to Cameron Smith in that battle for the Open, with Smith joining the list of LIV defectors mere weeks later.
The title of episode eight is excellently chosen as, in the context of the first season, all things have led to this ultimate showdown, at the final major of the year, between the PGA Tour's loudest proponent, and his conqueror at St. Andrews.
The opening scene shows McIlroy questioning whether he has gone too far in his activism against LIV in 2022. The season saw McIlroy sit on the board of the PGA Tour for the first time, and he says in the opening moments of episode eight:
This is the first year that I've been on the PGA Tour board. Sometimes I think, 'what a time to get involved in all this stuff!' with everything that's happening in the professional game.
It's been contentious at times and I have maybe leaned into that part of it a little too much, and made it a little too personal in my mind. But I feel like what some people have done has affected the rest of the profession.
I'm just trying to defend what I think is right.
Episode eight shows in no uncertain terms how McIlroy did make it personal with some of LIV Golf's most famed players during 2022 - including the ignition of his feud with Patrick Reed, and a jab at Phil Mickelson.
The crux of the episode revolves around the Open Championship at St. Andrew's last July, with McIlroy the centre of attention - even Ronan Keating pops up for a moment, saying that "everyone" is willing McIlroy on to win the iconic Major, while he is also described as the "custodian" of the world game against the backdrop of such a huge split.
With the Open taking place only a month after the first ever LIV event in London, the Saudi series dominates much of the episode, with Koepka explaining that the financial weight of LIV was too much to turn down, and Dustin Johnson making similar comments.
Rory McIlroy in Full Swing (Photo: Netflix)
McIlroy acknowledges during episode eight that the game of golf has to be modernised - leading to his joint venture with Tiger Woods to set up a new tournament golf league in partnership with the PGA Tour. Nonetheless, he is firmly opposed to the birth of LIV.
After the disappointment of the Open defeat, McIlroy moves on to the Tour Championship, where his comments on Patrick Reed can be overheard. Reed claimed that he joined the LIV Tour in order to play "less golf", yet found himself playing at an Asian Tour event around the time of the Tour Championship. When asked if he had heard this news, McIlroy said:
And he dropped spots in the world rankings - beautiful!
The bad blood between McIlroy and Reed has not dissipated, with "teegate" defining McIlroy's recent victory over the American at the Dubai Desert Classic last month.
Moments later, while receiving a massage, McIlroy engages in coversation about NFL player Josh Allen, after he was pictured with the Buffalo Bills quarterback. McIlroy is asked whether Allen is a "PGA Tour fan", to which he responds, "he's a Phil Mickelson fan, so I don't really know if that counts."
A background voice can be heard saying "sounds like this guy is losing credibility," and McIlroy's half-joking response throws another jab at perhaps LIV's biggest star:
Fuck you Phil! I hope that makes it in.
'Everything Has Led To This' is one of Full Swing's strongest moments - mainly because of the central character of the episode. McIlroy's presence has been teased throughout the first seven episodes, and dominates any mention of LIV Golf throughout, and the access-all-areas on the biggest weekend of his season makes things captivating enough.
On top of all of the serious discussion surrounding the future of golf, the playful jabs at Reed and Mickelson only add to the strengths of this McIlroy-focused episode.
Rory McIlroy in 'Full Swing' (Courtesy: Netflix)
One of the more touching elements of this episode is the focus placed on McIlroy's relationship with Tiger Woods, with McIlroy recounting his childhood love for the 15-times major winner - he says, "for a lot of people, he is golf...all I wanted to do was be like him."
McIlroy recalls being a pretty "cocky and arrogant" kid, who would tell "anyone who would listen" that he was to be the best golfer in the world, and comparisons are made by many of the series' golfing experts between the arrivals of McIlroy and Woods at the beginning of their respective careers.
An emotional moment comes when Woods misses the cut at the Open - likely his final time playing at St. Andrews - with the Netflix cameras capturing the tearful nod across the course between Woods and McIlroy as Tiger walks down the 18th fairway. In a voiceover, McIlroy explains why Tiger holds such a unique and irreplaceable position in the world of golf:
There's never going to be another Tiger Woods in our game, for so many reasons. Not just his success on the golf course, but the barriers that he was able to break down.
I think he's set a great example for a lot of us going forward.
The episode then concludes with McIlroy receiving a wholesome congratulatory text message from Tiger after winning the Tour Championship.
The eight-episode first season of Full Swing is on Netflix from 8am on Wednesday February 15.
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