The Netflix Cup: Netflix drops trailer for F1 Drivers vs. Tour Pros in Netflix live event

Big news in the golf world today! Netflix released a trailer today for a live event they will be hosting on November 14th, pitting four F1 drivers against four PGA Tour pros. This coincides with Formula 1 hosting their inaugural Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix that week, The roster for each side will be:

Formula 1 Drivers

Alex Albon

Pierre Gasly

Lando Norris

Carlos Sainz

PGA Tour Pros

Rickie Fowler

Max Homa

Collin Morikawa

Justin Thomas

Let's dive in here. To be honest, I have not yet watched Formula 1: Drive to Survive on Netflix. Something feels weird about watching a show about a season of a sport that happened years ago. However, I do want to grind it out to get up to speed (arguably my second pun of this blog already, just saying). Point being - I unfortunately cannot offer any insight on the F1 drivers. The only knowledge I have about them is that I have been told I resemble Carlos Sainz before. I will gladly take that!

Before we dive into the four Tour players playing, let's talk about what this means for Netflix, golf, and the future of special events like this. The one thing that immediately sticks out to me is how this reminds me of what several other golf blogs are doing right now on YouTube: No Laying Up frequently plays with pros, Foreplay Pod from Barstool Sports has their four-man scramble where they play 4-1 against a pro, Bob Does Sports frequently plays tour pros/celebs/athletes, Paige Spiranac, GoodGood Golf, Grant Horvat, BustaJack, even Spittin' Chiclets, Barstool's hockey podcast, has a playlist on YouTube dedicated to golf. The list goes on (and we aren't afraid to mention other channels/podcasts by name!).

Netflix seems to think this is the future of golf, and I agree. With an abundance of "amateur" golf content to consume, there is always a video to throw on either in the office or at home to create some background noise or pass some time. Why are these so popular? Because most of the golfers are extremely relatable to double-digit handicaps like myself. I like Netflix's idea here where we can watch Tour pros play a more casual around with other big names. Both of Netflix's shows involved here - Drive to Survive and Full Swing - are incredibly popular on the streaming service and have exponentially increased viewship of each sport across the globe. I'm curious to see if Netflix - or other streaming services - will expand on this and host similar events down the road.

Let's talk about the PGA pros involved. First thing to note; all four are on the PGA Tour. The filming of Full Swing season 1 on Netflix took place at the height of the LIV Golf drama, where a few players with dedicated episodes switched to LIV almost as soon as the season came out. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Ian Poulter, and Mito Pereira all switched over to LIV and a few of them discussed it in their respective episodes. The PGA and Netflix execs probably knew which rumors would materialize and become true, yet they did not shy away from filming these players (good on them). Dustin Johnson (Groove Golfing's number 1 golfer) was very transparent about his decision to leave. Brooks Koepka, hate him or love him (there seems to be no middleground there amongst golf fans), has seemingly climbed to the top of everyone's list again by doing what Brooks does best - unapologetically being himself. Hopefully, they get some LIV players involved for future events because there are several hilarious and unique personalities on that tour.

Expanding on that, I am not the biggest fan of the four golfers picked for this first event. Not because I dislike them individually, but because of the nature of this event. Sure, they are safe bets. Justin Thomas has his loyal fans. Morikawa is a fan favorite. Homa portrays himself as a normal kid from Cali who just happens to be incredible at golf. Rickie has obviously always been a fan favorite throughout his entire career. Do I like them all? More or less, yes I do. Do I think these are the ideal personalities to make this good TV? No, not at all. The only one I wouldn't change would be Homa because he doesn't take things too seriously and can banter back-and-forth with anyone he comes across.

Back to my LIV comment - how awesome would it be to have Brooks Koepka in this? The guy who just made a boatload (more) of money from the LIV season, who just released a shoe with Nike and Travis Scott, and who appears on podcasts all the time to joke around and be a normal guy. His personality is PERFECT for an event like this. I hope the reason he isn't involved now is because they are saving him for later. I wouldn't hate seeing Keegan Bradley or Viktor Hovland tossed in too. Keegan's Boston attitude would be a hilarious contrast to the international personalities of the drivers. And who hates Viktor Hovland? Literally no one. Hovland would be an absolute vibe booster. Vik is like the buddy you invite to your weekend rounds knowing he will shoot in the 90s or 100s but will smile and laugh the whole time doing it. Except in this scenario, Viktor would be shooting in the 60s as he is one of the best golfers on the face of the planet at the moment. A far cry from the average golfer's friend who is there for a good time. Everyone has their part in a gropu, I'm not shaming.

The PGA side could have been drafted much much better, yet I am still optimistic that this will be a fun watch. If this goes well, we should do wayyyy more of this and less of whatever that virtual Tiger Woods TGL golf league is that I will only watch so I can write about it.

Overall, I am excited for the creation of this event. It also seems like Netflix is trying to attract people who like to watch events like "The Match" where you'll have people such as Patrick Mahomes & Travis Kelce face off against Steph Curry & Klay Thompson. Tom Brady, Phil Mickelson and others have participated in these before too. The idea itself is fine, but if I don't absolutely love the celebrities playing in it then I won't watch it. I think there is a big market out there that "The Match" tried to capitalize on but personally I don't think the traction is there. I am much more confident in a format like this filling that void.

The Netflix Cup will stream live at 5:00 pm CT on Tuesday, November 14th. Let me know your thoughts about it! I welcome all agreements and disagreements with this column.

Thanks Groove Golfing Gang!