AT&T PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM

February 1, 2023

Jordan Spieth

Gabe Spitzer

Chad Mumm

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: To set the scene for this morning I would like to introduce Gabe Spitzer who is the director of the documentary series at Netflix. As well as Chad Mumm who is the chief creative officer of Vox Media Studios and the executive producer of Full Swing. And of course Jordan Spieth, 13-time PGA Champion who you all know.

So before we hear from our speakers I would like to preface that our guests will be available for one-on-one interviews following the press conference and then Jordan and I will continue on with his press conference for the tournament.

So to kick things off I'm going to turn it over to Gabe. Can you just talk about why Netflix wanted to make this show and what was so appealing about following golf?

GABE SPITZER: First off, thank you to AT&T for having us here. It a great honor to be here.

I think, yes, sitting with someone like this and, I mean, this is why we wanted to make the show. It's getting deeper into the world of golf. We saw success with the Formula 1 Drive to Survive series. And it just gave us sort of a hint that what do our members love, across the globe, 230 million members across the globe. They love authenticity. They love getting deeper into stories.

When we heard the TOUR and all four majors were on board to let us deep inside of golf I think it was a no-brainer for us. We couldn't be happier with how it turned out and the type of athletes that have come on board and given us, taken a leap of faith to tell their stories.

THE MODERATOR: Absolutely. With the premier of Full Swing coming up in just a couple weeks, Chad, can you give everybody some insight into what we can expect from the series?

CHAD MUMM: We are going to -- you're going to see golf in a way that no one's ever seen before. We were really lucky to have amazing access, not just from the governing bodies of the sports, the PGA TOUR and all the majors, but from players like Jordan and his peers who let us into their lives in a way that I don't think anyone's ever seen before.

So this will be pro golf like you've never seen. We've had cameras in places where cameras are never allowed before. We spent a ton of time with players off the course and really get a chance to get inside the world of professional golf. Which is this, as you all know, like amazing kind of travelling circus that moves around and you can't really understand it unless you're inside it. So get ready for a deep, new look.

THE MODERATOR: And Jordan, can you just give us some thoughts on what your goal was for being a part of the series and your excitement for the show to launch?

JORDAN SPIETH: Well I'm an F 1 fan because of Drive to Survive. And I'm one of however many million Americans that it reached and went outside of your typical F 1 fan base, which was already massive and global.

But for golf to see the Drive to Survive success and then the opportunity that we can be a part of trying to get out of the typical golf fan base kind of look they did, but get global with it. And as you mentioned, 250 million members is larger than your typical who tunes in to see a round of PGA TOUR golf. So what an opportunity.

To kind of have some fun with it, too. I mean, I had a blast. I gave access in places I don't normally and shared a lot of it with Justin. And so we really, really enjoyed that process of kind of giving a glimpse into what our day-to-day is, given how close we are. And then the names that showed up in order to do it.

Especially this last year with how wild professional golf was. I mean, what a year to start filming. So you get that kind of access too.

So just, it should have a pretty profound impact on growing the game of golf and hopefully brings more fans to the PGA TOUR specifically. But it was really cool to see the majors step in as well and offer that kind of access that they don't normally give.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up to questions.

Q. (No Microphone.)

JORDAN SPIETH: I'm not sure that I'm allowed to say.

CHAD MUMM: Jordan and Justin played a practice round before the PGA Championship at Southern Hills. And I think you had only played that course maybe once before. JT had never seen it before.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I played in the U.S. Amateur there, but it was 14, no, 13 years prior. So, yeah, so they went up with us, flew up with us to play the practice round, flew back down. Filmed some content from just a fun, gambling practice round day and 30 mile-an-hour winds and then how that, I mean it just worked out perfectly. Kind of led to Justin winning the PGA there. So you kind of see that whole story line take place within our episode.

CHAD MUMM: Just being able to be on that flight with them -- it was only a short flight, but just to see inside their lives a little bit. It wasn't an official practice round, it was just you guys out there playing some golf, having a lot of fun. The personalities, the sort of youthfulness of it all. How competitive it was even in a practice round.

So it's stuff you never really get to see. It was amazing for us and hopefully you had fun doing it too.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah. I wouldn't have signed up for another season if I didn't. (Laughing.)

Q. (No microphone.)

JORDAN SPIETH: So I did, as a smart husband would do, you talk to your wife and say, Hey, we have a 14-month old, so it was until the process of him being a baby and we kind of were like, I want to be involved and give access, but also protect kind of how private I keep my private life.

So it's not full access, but it's much more than I'm used to giving. I never felt uncomfortable. And if I ever did, I just said, Hey, maybe don't shoot this, if that's all right. And everyone was high class, Yeah, totally understand, don't worry about it.

So I never really, once that precedent was set early with me personally, it was pretty easy the rest of the year to kind of get more and more comfortable, knowing that I could always just be upfront and honest and it was going to be taken the right way.

So that part was easy. But, yeah, we don't go into waking up, into waking my son up and any day-to-day with that because I don't necessarily think that's the best route for him when he's 10, 11, 12 years old to be like, Wow, you guys put me on television to 250 million people.

You know, if he chooses, he wants to be an actor and do that someday, then great. But I don't think that's our decision to make for him. So, yeah, boundaries were set. But having said that, it was still quite a bit of access and some good access at that.

GABE SPITZER: We're incredibly happy with the level of access and I think it's about trust and building trust with athletes. I think you'll see a level of authenticity here that you haven't seen in the sport before. So we couldn't be more excited about it.