Full Swing: Netflix golf documentary explores 'civil war' of LIV breakaway

McIlroy shows himself a staunch professional of Saudi-backed LIV Golf

We've had Drive to Survive for F1, Break Point for tennis, and this week different caller down the scenes athletics documentary series, Full Swing, delves into the "civil war" successful play created by the Saudi Arabian-backed breakaway competition, LIV Golf.

What possibly nary 1 banked connected erstwhile cameras started rolling, however, were the monolithic fractures that were astir to hap wrong the scenery of the sport.

The announcement past outpouring of a caller competition, the LIV Golf series, proved highly controversial. The information that the start-up is backed to the tune of £1.6bn by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund led to immoderate claims of sportswashing, portion the fledgling bid itself posed an existential menace to the presumption quo of golf.

Players similar Dustin Johnson, Ian Poulter and Brooks Koepka were sanctioned by the PGA aft joining the caller tournament.

Producer, Paul Martin told BBC Sport: "For us, we had a radical of characters who were each connected the PGA Tour erstwhile we started the show. By the clip we finished the show, it was similar a 50/50 split. The amusement that we thought we were making, we had to pivot and abruptly we're making a amusement astir a satellite wherever determination was a civilian warfare going on."

"You enactment each that successful the premix with the competitory unit of a large title and it combusts!" added enforcement producer, Chadd Mumm.

American golfer Tony Finau told BBC Sport: "All I cognize is that Netflix couldn't person picked a amended twelvemonth to travel the PGA Tour."

Alongside each of the play determination are besides tons of backstage jets and lavish houses with immense pools.

On the different hand, there's a just spot of angst astir the pressures to support succeeding.

Here are conscionable a fewer takeaways from the explosive series.

'Playing less, making much money' - golfers connected joining LIV Tour

LIV is based connected a three-day 54-hole strokeplay format. The prize money for each limb of the bid is $25m. That meant, astatine the clip of recording, each limb was much lucrative than the richest tourney connected the PGA Tour.

After defecting from the PGA Tour, two-time large victor Dustin Johnson went connected to triumph the inaugural LIV Golf championship successful October 2022, earning $18m (£16.2m) successful prize money, connected apical of the reported $125m helium got for joining the tour.

In occurrence 5 of afloat swing, helium defends his determination to switch.

"For me, it was playing less, making much wealth - beauteous simple," says the 38-year-old, who joined the PGA Tour successful 2008 and won $74m connected the circuit. "If idiosyncratic offered anyone a job, doing the aforesaid happening they're already doing, but little clip astatine the bureau and they're going to wage them more, I'm beauteous definite you're going to instrumentality it. And something's incorrect with you if you didn't."

Other players mention wealth and household reasons too.

Poulter has enactment his information successful the Ryder Cup successful jeopardy by joining the LIV Golf set-up

English golfer Ian Poulter talks successful occurrence 3 astir the imaginable LIV offers him to widen his career, saying: "The information of determination being guaranteed wealth astatine play is evidently an attraction."

During legs of LIV, adjacent players who decorativeness past instrumentality distant $120,000.

According to the PGA Tour website, the 47-year-old has won astir $28m (£23m).

"People inquire each the time, 'don't you person capable already?' But that's each relative," helium says. "I dainty my play arsenic a occupation and I privation to evidently maximise each spot of my imaginable implicit the coming years."

Journalist Brandel Chamblee counters: "Ian Poulter, helium has fixed up everything. He's not going to beryllium a Ryder Cup captain, he's not going to get the goodwill of the crippled of golf, he's not going to get the goodwill of the sponsors. It each goes away."

Finally, four-time large winner, Brooks Koepka says, "It's pugnacious not to instrumentality attraction of your household man. To cognize that your kids' kids and my grandkids' grandkids are taken attraction of. I'm blessed with the decisions I've made."

• All about: Golf's powerfulness struggle
• The Sports Desk: Norman, Mickelson & Saudi wealth - is play eating itself?

'We've each conscionable gotten a small soft' - McIlroy connected LIV statement

Northern Irish golfer McIlroy wants to support the game's traditions

Perhaps the biggest professional of the LIV breakaway was Northern Ireland's satellite fig 2 - and 1 of the sport's highest-profile players - Rory McIlroy.

During occurrence eight, we spot him discussing his opinions connected the caller circuit and advising different players, including Australia's Cameron Smith - victor of The Open successful 2022 - to deliberation cautiously earlier joining. Smith joined LIV six weeks aft winning the 150th staging of golf's oldest large astatine its spiritual location successful St Andrews.

In 1 scene, McIlroy sits down with PGA Tour main tournaments and contention officer, Andy Pazder, successful the aftermath of an announcement that immoderate players joining LIV Golf volition beryllium banned from the PGA Tour.

Discussing absorption by different players, McIlroy says: "I accidental to these guys, nary different athletes successful the satellite get to take erstwhile and wherever they play. We've each conscionable gotten a small soft."

Finau learned to play play successful his dad's garage

We larn that satellite fig 13 Finau has not travel from a emblematic play background. Growing up with six siblings successful a mediocre neighbourhood successful Salt Lake City, Utah, Finau - who is of Tongan and Samoan descent - learned to play successful his dad's garage.

The 33-year-old explains however it came astir successful occurrence six.

"My member randomly told my dada helium wanted to play golf," helium begins. "He didn't cognize thing astir golf, he'd ne'er played it before. With the fund we had, helium knew helium had to fig retired a mode that we could larn to play astatine home.

"His invention was, 'I'm going to enactment up a mattress successful our store and that's however my boys are going to larn to deed and we're going to spell to the play people to spot and putt, since it's free'."

'Cancer astir apt changed maine for the better' - Dahmen's cognition to play and life

Being diagnosed with testicular crab has fixed 'goofball' Joel Dahmen perspective, helium tells the Netflix series

In the hyper-competitive, single-minded satellite of golf, Joel Dahmen seems different.

His wife, Lona Skutt, describes him successful occurrence 4 arsenic a 'goofball'. Fans whitethorn retrieve erstwhile the 35-year-old got successful trouble for taking his garment off connected the 16th greenish astatine the WM Phoenix Open past February.

Dahmen is incredibly self-deprecating, declaring successful 1 scene: "It's not similar I don't effort and I don't practice, but someone's got to beryllium the 70th champion golfer successful the satellite - mightiness arsenic good beryllium me. I americium a mediate of the roadworthy PGA Tour player."

Despite that, Skutt argues that her hubby has an interior steeliness. His mother, Jolyn died from pancreatic crab successful 2005 and successful 2011. Dahmen was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

"My mother's passing is inactive tough, but I deliberation myself having crab astir apt changed maine for the amended - not instrumentality beingness for granted, effort your best, bash each the close things," helium says.

'I tin amusement you 7000 shots' - Fitzpatrick is simply a stat nerd

Fitzpatrick records each changeable helium makes, including during practice

English golfer Matt Fitzpatrick won his archetypal large successful June 2022, erstwhile helium bushed satellite fig 1 Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris, to assertion the US Open rubric astatine the Brookline Country Club.

However, the unassuming 28-year-old from Sheffield says successful occurrence 5 that nary 1 successful his location municipality adjacent recognises him.

One concealed helium reveals is the mode helium monitors each of his shots.

"Since I was young - astir apt 14, 15, I've ever written down what shots I've hit, however far, what club. I tin amusement you 7000 shots. I'm always, ever pushing to beryllium amended and the analytics amusement me, successful achromatic and white, wherever I request to improve."

'I anticipation I bushed him successful each tourney for the remainder of our lives'

Justin Thomas, left, and Jordan Spieth, right: There's nary request for enemies erstwhile you person friends similar these

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas person been friends and sparring partners since they were 13.

In May 2022, Thomas won the US PGA Championship astatine Southern Hills, to assertion his 2nd large - 1 down Spieth's tally of three.

Thomas admits successful occurrence 1 that it's been hard astatine times to ticker Spieth's vocation surpass his own.

"I was precise jealous of everything that Jordan did. I mean, you could spell arsenic acold arsenic to accidental angry, due to the fact that it's like, it wasn't me," says Thomas, who aboriginal adds "he's 1 of my champion friends but astatine the aforesaid clip I anticipation that I bushed him successful each azygous tourney for the remainder of our lives".

Following Thomas' triumph astatine Southern Hills, Spieth comments: "As overmuch arsenic I privation to bushed him, erstwhile I'm already done and I can't, past he's the feline I'm rooting for. If anything, each it does is makes maine privation to blaze up adjacent more."