'Full Swing' recaps: Episode 2 Win or Go Home

It’s finally here. “Full Swing,” the highly-anticipated Netflix docuseries that gives viewers unprecedented access to the PGA TOUR and its players, went live Feb. 15. All eight episodes were released simultaneously, allowing viewers a variety of options about how to consume this groundbreaking series. For some, a slow drip may be the preferred method, allowing them to fully soak in the behind-the-scenes look at their favorite players. Others may call in sick and binge all eight of the approximately 45-minute episodes.

Whatever your preference, we’re here to help. First, a quick warning. These episode recaps are chock-full of spoilers. Proceed with caution. But each of these articles is intended to aid your viewing experience, either adding context to the most memorable scenes or helping you recall your favorite moments from episodes you’ve already binged. Enjoy this closer look at Episode 2 of “Full Swing.”

Episode 2: Win or Go Home

Main characters: Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka

Supporting cast: Jena Sims, Meredith Scheffler

“Full Swing” devoted its opening episode to two prodigies, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. The second installation of the series also turned its cameras on two players who reached No. 1 in the world. Brooks Koepka bloomed relatively late in comparison to the opening episode’s protagonists but rose to the top spot in convincing fashion with his success in majors. Scottie Scheffler, meanwhile, was the third-fastest player to reach world No. 1 (only Spieth and Tiger Woods needed fewer starts as a pro), attaining the top spot with a burst of success that we don’t often see on TOUR. The second episode of “Full Swing,” entitled “Win or Go Home,” captures Koepka and Scheffler on the grind in 2023, notably at the WM Phoenix Open and The Masters.

KOEPKA COMING UNDONE

Last year’s WM Phoenix Open provides the backdrop for the start of the episode. It was a dream week in golf. Sahith Theegala burst onto the scene. Sam Ryder burst a few thousand beer bottles with an ace on No. 16 and Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Koepka and Scheffler were among the big names hovering around the top of the leaderboard. Scheffler broke through in a playoff over Cantlay to win his first PGA TOUR title.

Koepka was the defending champion at TPC Scottsdale in 2022 after winning his second WM Phoenix Open the previous year. He played in the final group with Theegala and Scheffler but a bogey on the stadium 16th, which drew boos from the rowdy gallery, left him one shot out of a playoff.

“I remember leaving thinking like, I really had that golf tournament with a chance to win and I’m not winning, what the f***?” Koepka says. 

Koepka’s f-bomb usage is rather frequent throughout the episode, an emphatic illustration of the frustration he is feeling about his golf game. The man who won four majors from 2017-19 has now gone four years without one. His win in Phoenix in 2021 is one of just two wins since he picked up his fourth major at the 2019 PGA Championship.

While golf reporters may say Koepka is tight-lipped at the podium, he is raw and unfiltered with the “Full Swing” crew to this point. The swaggering jock does not hesitate to reveal the insecurities caused by his poor play. The producers are with Koepka at his rental home in Phoenix, his waterfront home in Jupiter, Florida, and stay with him every step of the way at The Masters.

And what they found was a frustrated athlete. 

“Winning is an addiction, man,” Koepka says right off the top of the episode. “Let’s just say it’s life and death. That’s how I think of it.”

“Full Swing” finds Koepka in the wilderness. His T3 at TPC Scottsdale was his first top-10 on the PGA TOUR since the previous July. 

“When I was playing my best, I’m not a big stats guy, but I know I was the best inside 8 feet during that whole stretch,” Koepka says on the practice green at Medalist Golf Club. “And now, I’m probably the worst.”

He adds, “When you have it, you feel like you’re never gonna lose it. And when you don’t have it, you feel like you’re never gonna get it. And that’s kind of how I feel on the greens right now.”

Koepka is clearly a man wondering when he’ll “get it” again.

SCOTTIE’S SHOOTING STAR

Scheffler provides an interesting contrast in this episode to the hyper-competitive, and angst-ridden, Koepka.

Scheffler innocently enjoys coffee and ice cream with his high-school sweetheart, Meredith, and talks about how grateful he is to be on TOUR.

“When I was a kid, I always dreamed of being on the PGA TOUR,” he says. “I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can. It’s very, very fun.”

While Koepka may have been overlooked as an amateur golfer, Scheffler had a star-studded career before turning pro. He followed in Spieth’s footsteps as a Dallas native who won the U.S. Junior, then played on a victorious Walker Cup team. Even as a pro, success came relatively quickly. He was the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year in his first two full seasons as a pro.

Perhaps Scheffler’s greatest challenge was going winless in his first two PGA TOUR seasons. He made up for that winless stretch in short order, earning his first four PGA TOUR titles in a six-event stretch that culminated with his Masters triumph.

Scheffler, who admitted that he “cried like a baby” before the final round at Augusta National, is big on perspective. He talks about “not taking bad rounds home.” Compare that to Koepka, whose wife Jena catches him ignoring her while making practice swings in their house.

“Jena will be talking to me and I’m thinking about my damn golf swing,” Koepka says.

ECSTACY AND MISERY AT THE MASTERS

After some quick cuts of a couple more Scheffler wins, “Full Swing” sets the stage for Scheffler’s Masters victory.

Five days before the tournament, Scheffler is shown driving in Dallas at 6 a.m. with caddie Ted Scott in the back seat looking like a teammate from “The Amazing Race.”

“Gotta get this guy in the F1 Netflix series the way he’s driving,” Scott says as Scheffler reaches 82 MPH.

Meanwhile, Koepka is in no mood for jokes. Sitting with his mom Denise back in Jupiter, he gives a tour of his trophy case with his four major championship trophies on display. He has left a spot right in the center for his Masters trophy. 

“Just to remind myself that there’s plenty more to win,” he says. He admits he’d pay a high price for another one of those wins, as well.

“I’d pay back every dollar in this game just to have that feeling again for another hour,” he says.

That spot on his trophy case will collect dust another year. Koepka says he’s “embarrassed” as he misses the cut at Augusta National, a feeling he says he’s never had before in his golf career.

Scheffler, meanwhile, is en route to winning his first major, chipping in on the third hole and eventually walking off arm-in-arm from the 18th green with wife Meredith.

SHIFTING TIDES

While Scheffler is experiencing some of the highs Koepka had felt a few years earlier, Koepka is feeling other emotions for the first time.

Koepka wonders if he is on the downside of his career. He mentions some injuries, but at no point does he use that as an excuse for his struggles.

“I don’t want to say (I’m on) the other side of it, but it’s like we’re going down now,” he says. “This is the worst I’ve ever struggled in my whole life. I have to figure out how to get the f*** out of this thing before it gets too late.”

We have gone this long without addressing the giant elephant in the room and that is for good reason, as there is no presence of any new golf league for the first 95% of the episode. But in the final moments, it comes into play.

“Being at the low point, you can either just give up and lay there or you just gotta figure it the f*** out,” he says. Koepka has a decision to make.

Chip Shots

- At The Masters, as Koepka signs an autograph, a young fan asks, “Where’s Jena? I want a picture with her.” Koepka gathers himself and says, “Me too. I’ll tell her you said you were looking for her.”

- While Woods is shown at the Masters, playing in his first competitive event since the fall of 2020, CBS’ Amanda Balionis offers context: “We’re talking about a guy who almost died in a car accident. He was just lucky to be alive. Him just being able to be at the Masters, thinking he could possibly compete, is maybe one of the most incredible feats we have seen in all of sports.”

- During the first round of the Masters, Scheffler keeps things loose on one tee by telling Scott a story about how Meredith used to eat popcorn in bed on the road and Scheffler would roll around in crumbs while trying to sleep.

- Koepka says during the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, he got to the course and had forgotten his clubs in his room.