Reel Rundown: Americans aiming for spot on Ryder Cup team on full display in ‘Full Swing’

Let’s begin with the ultimate spoiler.

In September 2025, the European Ryder Cup team defeated the U.S. squad, 15-13, on New York’s Bethpage Black golf course. It was the first time an “away” team had won the tournament in more than a decade.

Season 4 of the Netflix miniseries “Full Swing” explores what led up to that event and climaxes with a replay of the competition itself. The season’s four episodes are the latest additions to the series that premiered in February 2023.

The Ryder Cup, for those not familiar with it, is a competition between golfers from the U.S. and Europe that has been held every two years (save a couple of interruptions) since 1927.

The tournament was created originally as a test between the U.S. and Great Britain. In 1971, though, players from Ireland were added to the U.K. roster. And in 1979 the foreign field expanded to include players from continental Europe.

Playing sites are traded between the U.S. and various European courses to give each team an alternating home advantage. So while the 44th Ryder Cup was held in Rome, Italy, this year’s was held on U.S. soil.

Up until now, “Full Swing” – which is produced in partnership with the PGA Tour – has immersed itself in the professional golf tour and the athletes, all men, who play on it. Featured have been PGA stars such as Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Brooks Koepka and several others, including Clarkston’s own Joel Dahmen.

Season 4 is different. While the personal and professional experiences of several players are explored – as well as those of some of their wives – the season overall is a study of the preparations that both teams made in advance of what was the 45th Ryder Cup, which took place on Sept. 25-28.

The narrative that Season 4 focuses on is the fact that the European team won in Rome. And heading into the 45th tournament, the U.S. team is bent on revenge.

That sense of urgency builds early as Keegan Bradley, chosen to be captain of the U.S. team, has to decide whether he will participate as captain and player. Though one of the world’s top players, Bradley is hard-pressed to make up his mind.

He’s also pressured to choose the other players who will round out the team. This decision is based on a variety of factors, though mostly it’s about who will give the U.S. the best chance for victory.

Thus we are introduced to relatively little-known players such as Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy and J.J. Spaun. We watch as they struggle to play well in the weeks leading up to the tournament. And then, ultimately, we watch as they wait nervously for Bradley’s phone call, which proves to be joyous for some and disappointing for others.

In the end, the producers of the series – a team led by Chad Mumm of a company called Box to Box Films – do their best to maintain a decent sense of drama to the very end … even though anyone with internet access can easily discover what happened.

Those who do consult online sources, or simply watch the series, will discover something else as well: They’ll see just how boorishly many of the U.S. fans acted toward the European players, particularly Northern Ireland’s McIlroy, whose wife was almost hit by a flying beer can.

Things got so bad that, while congratulating the European squad on its victory, the hall-of-fame golfer Tom Watson expressed his disappointment on X. “I’d like to apologize,” Watson wrote, “for the rude and mean-spirited behavior from our American crowd at Bethpage.”

The fact that the U.S. players came roaring back on the final day to very nearly pull off the win is admirable. The actions of so many of their overly boisterous fans are definitely not.

“Full Swing: Season 4” does a good job of capturing the essential truth of both.