‘Full Swing’ Episode 6 recap: Tony Finau gets better

Check out our Episode 5 recap here.

If you’ve spent your life wondering about Tony Finau’s family dynamics, you’re going to love this episode. Episode 6 of Full Swing, titled “Don’t Get Bitter, Get Better,” purportedly compares Finau to Collin Morikawa in how they approach their travel and home life, but we see very little of Morikawa. We see plenty of Finau, his wife, and his five children — all of whom travel with the golfer week in and week out to his various PGA TOUR tournaments.

The central question this episode asks is whether it is possible to have a life in which you prioritize your family and also succeed at golf. Finau ranks No. 13 in Official World Golf Rankings, so the answer is yes, no matter how many people in the episode say that eliminating distractions is the way to go. We get into Finau’s mother’s death, his wife’s father’s death, his relationship with his eldest son, who also wants to be a golfer.

Morikawa did not grant the same amount of access to Netflix as Finau did — if the show means to paint him as some sort of foil to Finau or even to play a villain-like role, it does not succeed. We just don’t get a whole lot about the young golfer. Whether or not Morikawa himself isn’t personable, the scenes don’t come across as such, and you’re left with the vague sense that you’ve just watched a commercial break before we get back into the Finau family saga.

Finau’s storyline is heartwarming, if somewhat contrived (the traveling-with-family question was not a real point of discussion during the 2022 season). He wins back-to-back events to close out the episode, but this isn’t some comeback or underdog story. This is one of the best golfers in the world winning tournaments.