Why golf needs the Netflix treatment
Drive to Survive on Netflix is a remarkable programme which has done the impossible. It has made Formula One interesting.
It purports to be an accessall-areas documentary, but has the glossy sheen of scripted reality shows such as Made in Chelsea, Keeping Up with the Kardashians or Premier League football. Its cast of characters range from charming (Daniel Ricciardo) to ruthless (Christian Horner), then a middle ground of nerdy and over-caffeinated gym bunnies (almost everyone else).
It is a sanitised glimpse at the inner workings of an opaque sport but succeeds in making the viewer care about storylines which barely get a look-in in conventional coverage. Suddenly there is real human meaning in a battle for ninth position, who is supplying engines for Mclaren or Haas not finishing last.
The show has made F1 fans of previous sceptics, many of whom are now hooked on a genuinely exciting season. Some are tuning in not just for races but even qualifying, too. Unlocking a completely new demographic in this way is marketing gold dust and any sport would be foolish to turn down the opportunity.
Enter golf. The PGA Tour is believed to have signed a deal with Netflix to make a similar docuseries, arriving next year. It cannot come soon enough.
Some sports are a tough sell to the uninitiated. Unless you have played or watched them in your youth, picking up an interest later on is like attempting to learn Japanese in retirement. A nice idea, but life is too short.
To newcomers, golf makes little sense. One strapping young American in chinos and a polo shirt is much the same as the next. It is a sport in need of some ultra-highdefinition narrative magic.
This will not be a reality show in the Big Brother sense, although it would be fun to see Jordan Spieth sobbing in the diary room, upset because Phil Mickelson had been talking about his putting woes behind his back. Instead you would hope to delve into the most pressing current storylines in golf.
Can Rory Mcilroy square sensible chat about his self-worth not being defined by his performances as a top-level sportsman with actually being a top-level sportsman? Can Tiger Woods complete the most astonishing sporting comeback since his last one? Will Bryson Dechambeau and Brooks Koepka ever just get it over with and kiss?
Dustin Johnson’s ongoing flirtation with a Saudi super league deserves at least an episode, possibly featuring a trip to
St James’ Park to watch Newcastle draw with Burnley. Bafta incoming.
There are downsides. The current crop of golfers are as fond of the daily routine of 5am alarm, gym, protein shake, practice, play, bed at 8pm as their F1 equivalents. Even a very expensive camera will have a hard time making that compelling TV.
The ever-controlling PGA Tour may exert such influence over what can be shown that the programme is 95 per cent artful slow-motion footage: lakes shimmering, sand traps being raked, tees placed sensually into verdant turf.
However you feel about the aesthetic merits of motorsport it is incontrovertible that F1 suits glossy TV better than golf. Lando Norris screaming through a chicane at 100mph is more exciting than some frat boys trying to unsettle Jon Rahm at the tee by shouting: “Mashed potatoes”.
You may contend that golf needs no such boost. Participation rates are soaring and the average age of players is coming down, albeit still at around 41. The game is healthy, but no sport is safe from the need to turn its traditional moments of drama into something sexier. All must be sacrificed at the altar of the almighty narrative.
It is also fair to wonder if sport could ever go back to just existing for its own sake? The answer, increasingly, is no. Not if its biggest events are mostly on pricey subscription TV.
Better to push a gateway drug on a slightly less expensive platform which can snare far more sceptics than Ryder Cup drubbings, which require most of a weekend to properly engage with. The revolution will not be televised. It will be streamed.
Essential viewing: An inside look at the trials and tribulations of Rory Mcilroy’s career could attract a new audience to the game