PGA Tour to produce Netflix documentary

The PGA Tour will collaborate with Netflix, a global over-the-top media service provider, to earn new fans.

The PGA Tour announced on Thursday that it signed a partnership with Netflix to produce golf documentary series capturing various moments of major tournaments and depicting golfers’ lives in fierce competition. The documentary will film the daily lives of golfers, caddies, and their families.

The PGA Tour will make an exception to allow filing crew inside the ropes. Filming of four major tournaments – Masters Tournament, US Open, Open Championship, and PGA Championship – that have separate hosting organizations will be allowed too. “This partnership with Netflix presents the PGA Tour and the four major championships an opportunity to tap into a completely new and diverse audience,” said Rick Anderson, the PGA Tour's Chief Media Officer. “This documentary will give fans an authentic look into the real lives of our athletes, and what it's like to win - and lose - during a season on the PGA Tour."

Major stars representing the Tour will be featured. So far, 22 athletes, including World’s No. 2 Collin Morikawa, No. 3 Dustin Johnson, and No. 5 Justin Thomas, agreed to filming. The first major championship to be played by Keita Nakajima, who is ranked No. 1 in the world’s amateur golf, will also be featured in the documentary.

The documentary’s production will be handled by Vox Media Studios and Box To Box Films, which produced a documentary on Formula 1 titled “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.” Its official release date has not been announced yet but is expected to be next year.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com