Full Swing's Chad Mumm dishes on Season 3

USA Today

02-03-2025

Full Swing's Chad Mumm dishes on Season 3
Season 3 of Netflix's golf documentary 'Full Swing' is back and the full season dropped earlier this week on Feb. 25. Access is king and makes such a difference in the portrayal of the players. Sadly, still no Tiger or Phil and Bryson DeChambeau, Scott Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, who won the four majors and in Scheffler's case almost all of the other prominent prizes (Olympic gold, FedEx Cup) didn't sit for interviews or make themselves readily available.
Hopefully, season 4 is the breakthrough year for telling some of the stories we really want to see or else they get lucky again as they did when Matt Fitzpatrick won the 2022 U.S. Open in season 1. But you'll look at Camilo Villegas and Gary Woodland in a new way and several of the wives and girlfriends are fun secondary characters (still waiting for the wives of the PGA Tour episode or spinoff).
Also, there's a lot less focus on the PGA Tour-PIF negotiations – not much to tell there – and the civil war with LIV Golf. That was intentional, says Chad Mumm, executive producer of Full Swing.
'We try to get back to basics in this one: characters, humor and heart, the wives. I think it's really good but I always think that. I always watch the cuts in like October and I hate it and I'm like my life is over, this is terrible. By Christmas it's good and by now it's great. I don't know how the editors do it.
GWK: What episode do you think will pop with the general public the most?
CM: Well, we heard the outcry and we did a caddie episode that focuses on Ted Scott, Scottie Scheffler's caddie, and Carl Smith, Sahith Theegala's caddie, in episode 4, Carrying the Burden. It's a real look at their lives. That one is probably my favorite episode, but episode 1 is really good. Neal Shipley is going to pop for general audiences. He's like a dream character. It's like, imagine Joel Dahmen from season one, but you're like 22 and you have six roommates and your Xbox is propped up on a case of beer in your dorm room and you find yourself playing with Tiger on Sunday at the Masters. It's just great stuff.
GWK: Why did your crew target him?
CM: You know, we show up at like these events and we try to cover every base. Part of the deal with being able to shoot at Augusta is they said we really want you to tell the story of the amateurs, it's what we do. So, we were chasing all the ams and he made the cut so it worked out perfectly. First scene we shot with him he's playing ping pong with his roommate.
GWK: The Canadian boys finally get some love, eh?
CM: All of golf media in Canada is so excited to see those boys in the trailer. My Instagram has been full of Canadians, like, finally Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, yes, like, it's there. I don't want to disappoint you. Didn't realize I needed six episodes on Canada.
GWK: How big of a character is Rory McIlroy this time?
CM: He's in two episodes. One that you will think is super-soft, and one that you will think is great. We did like a him and Shane episode at the Zurich and their childhoods, which is great. It's fun. It's light and soft, but it's got a great title that no one has somehow called me out on yet. It's called 'Thick and Thin.' I can't believe no one said anything, but that's fun. And then, you know the Rory from Valhalla to Pinehurst with Bryson. From the time he comes off 18 to when he storms out, we were right there all the way to the car. That's a good episode. It's gut-wrenching for Rory.
GWK: Did Bryson sit for an interview this year?
CM: No. I think Bryson is such an interesting character, even in a vacuum, that, like, of course, I would rather him say it in his own words, but, you know, like, you don't even need explain who this guy is. There's so much out there. I think we did a good job.
GWK: Is there anything special from the Presidents Cup?
CM: It turned out to be the gift for us because of Keegan. In the process of the episode he gets named Ryder Cup captain on the back of Full Swing. Seth Waugh was like this is what tipped our hand. We saw who he was. Why not take a swing? Then he made the winning putt, which people don't really realize. Of course, it didn't matter but we make it feel like it was to win the Masters. We can manipulate people's emotions with music and stuff. It turned out great. We got great access to the international team and OK access to the U.S. team, kind of like at Rome. We got great access to Keegan [Bradley] and a couple of the guys and obviously [Jim] Furyk enough. In that episode we tell the Camilo Villegas story and him and his wife are like, if you're a parent you will bawl. They are so impressive. The way that story came together because of the way the international players on Tour supported him through that, it will make you cry.
And same for the Gary Woodland episode. We were in there from his first scan and at every surgery.
GWK: When will you know if there's going to be a season 4?
CM: It's usually about a month after the premiere. We've got little skeleton crews getting started. Being a Ryder Cup year, the lesson we learned last time is we shot much later so we're staggering our start a bit. The early season hardly ever makes it into the show. Even the Masters is hard to make matter. It's just so early in the year. The Masters is like the beginning for most people.