Early on the morning of April 8, 2023, Justin Thomas shivered as he walked up the 14th fairway at Augusta National. The rain was spitting down through the pines as Thomas did an on-course interview with CBS commentators Andrew Catalon and Trevor Immelman. He was one-under for the tournament at the time, one shot clear of the cut line. (The last holes of Friday’s round had been postponed to Saturday morning because of bad weather.)
Thomas gave viewers some insight into his day — up at 4:45 a.m. — and his recent shots. He sipped on a protein shake as he walked and talked, telling the CBS crew, “I got a long, long day ahead of me.”
Or not. Thomas promptly bogeyed the 15th, 17th and 18th holes to fall to four-over and miss the cut by a single stroke. Ouch.
Did the on-course interview cause him to drop strokes on three of the last four holes? Well, the sodden course conditions probably had a lot more to do with his final score. But given the maniacal premium players place on focusing without distraction, you could understand why Thomas would never want to do another on-course interview again. Even the world’s best players only get so many chances to play the Masters.
So it’s a touch surprising to see Thomas, of all people, now carrying the torch for broadcast media. In a letter this week to his fellow PGA Tour players, obtained by The Athletic, Thomas for the good of the professional game.
“The more I’ve watched documentaries and specials on streaming services on other sports, the more I’ve come to realize the main reason I love them so much is the access they provide and the insight the players are giving me; a fan of them and their craft.” Thomas wrote. “I had no interest in rooting for certain players, teams, coaches before watching a handful of shows and games. But the way some of them show their cards and how they go about everything makes me an even bigger fan.”
Thomas has hit on one key to marketing sports in the 2020s: it’s about the players, not the game. Give viewers a compelling reason to connect with the athletes in the arena, and they’ll watch regardless of the score.
Consider, for instance, the NBA: Given the league’s proliferation across podcasts and social media, it’s possible to be a deep, well-connected fan of the NBA without even watching many, or any, actual games. Despite its vanilla reputation, golf has fascinating personalities up and down the leaderboard. But every incentive of the game — from longstanding “gentlemanly” tradition to skittish sponsors to a desire to “focus” — tamps down those personalities, grinding virtually every player into the same cliche-spouting lukewarm mush. That might help a player’s short-term prospects, but it’s no way to connect with the generations of fans who will take the game into the 2030s and beyond.
In an interesting coincidence of timing, Thomas’ team in the TGL, the weekly indoor golf league playing in South Florida, . Thomas’ Atlanta Drive GC made for a perfect visual metaphor for the state of golf personalities today: Thomas himself, cheerfully arrogant; Billy Horschel, happily dancing and wearing jewelry; and Patrick Cantlay, sternly and silently going about his business. The team won in a shutout, and it was easily the most expressive any of the six teams has been to date, even factoring in Cantlay’s virtual silence.
Hours after the TGL match, another significant development in golf’s bid to increase its public profile dropped: the news that “Full Swing,” the Netflix documentary tracking men’s professional golf, will debut its third season on Feb. 25. That’s unequivocally good news for the sport, given the possibilities that “Full Swing” unlocks.
The North Star and treasure map for all non-football sports in America is “Drive to Survive,” the Netflix documentary series that effectively turned F1 into a weekly reality show. “Full Swing” might not have the same seismic impact, but 2024 was a monstrously newsy golf year, from Scottie Scheffler’s dominance (and arrest) to the great Rory McIlroy-Bryson DeChambeau duel at Pinehurst to the Olympics. If the documentary can capture that — and if viewers can then turn to the 2025 slate to see how those “characters” are doing this year — well, that’s the dream scenario.
Thomas is right — the old ways aren’t working, either for players or broadcasters. Ratings are down, interest is down, frustration with the sport’s fragmentation and stagnation is rampant. Yes, a whole lot of entities in golf are getting wealthy on short-term calories and investment, but if they want the game to be in better condition five years from now than it is right now, the work has to start now.
