Golf’s Rising Talent Looks Different When the Cameras Stay On

The second episode of Full Swing Season Four ("The Outsiders") was focused around the almost stars. It’s what makes golf so great, really. We have our Rorys and Scotties and Brysons, but there is always this outside shot of the guy that wasn’t a can’t miss that went on to work himself into the biggest of conversations.

J.J. Spaun enters as loudly as anyone has ever entered their Full Swing experience; skateboarding with pro skater Sean Malto. And Spaun's skills legit. This is the stuff I love about Full Swing - show me something about these guys I’d never see anywhere else (and a note to every agent out there; more of showing your player like this - casual, chill, doing something they truly enjoy - over the preview videos every week mixed to the latest Drake song of them hitting shots and preparing for a tournament we will quickly forget by the following Tuesday).

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Image: JJ Spaun, Full Swing Season 4, Episode 2 on Netflix

Spaun explains to the outside world his journey and his insecurities. Golf is a sport that rarely allows a non superstar to win, so when you do get that opportunity, you not only need to take advantage but you need to celebrate it.

Image: JJ Spaun, Full Swing Season 4, Episode 2 on Netflix

Maverick McNealy was a perfect example of this as well in this episode. Something I’ve loved about this season is how important the Ryder Cup is to the Americans. I think we in the golf world understand how important the Ryder Cup is even in non-Ryder Cup years to the Europeans, and it’s easy to think that is only a European thing. Mav saying he was focused on being ready if his name is called for the Ryder Cup is pretty wild considering where he was in terms of the standings and had never played in one before.

Image: Maverick McNealy, also a licensed private pilot during a Season 4, Episode 2 of Full Swing on Netflix.

And then there is Ben Griffin. I think so much about the thin line in professional golf between being competitive and basically looking for other work. Nobody embodies that more than Griffin, who had to go get a real job before returning to the sport and giving it another run.

Image: Ben Griffin, Full Swing Season 4, Episode 2 on Netflix

But something can click with a golfer, especially one that possesses the talent to win at the highest of levels. Griffin speaks of his U.S. Open experience and says, “It’s wild to be at my first U.S. Open and to be bummed I didn’t win.”

You think about what this whole season is about - the Ryder Cup - and the goal of making the most elite team in all of professional golf and when the year started in 2025, most of the guys that were being followed in this episode weren’t just off the Ryder Cup radar, they had barely experienced contending and winning on the PGA TOUR.

Image: A note left in Ben Griffin's locker by Keegan Bradley ahead of the 2025 U.S. Open. Full Swing Season 4, Episode 2 on Netflix

Fast-forward to the summer and bam, they’re contending in majors and climbing leaderboards left and right.

Professional golfers can find something that clicks, something that changes in their mental approach, and totally shifts their lives and Episode 2 is a perfect representation of that sensation.

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Editor's Note: Now available on Netflix, Full Swing is produced by Pro Shop’s own Chad Mumm and Mark W. Olsen, alongside PGA TOUR Studios, Vox Media Studios, and Box to Box Films.

Image: Full Swing Season 4, Episode 2 on Netflix