The 2023 Netflix Cup marks the streaming service’s first endeavor into live-sports as four PGA Tour players team up with four Formula 1 drivers for a match-play competition at The Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas. Following the success of the “Full Swing” and “Drive to Survive” docuseries, Netflix has called upon the services of those stars yet again for this unique live sporting event.
With FanDuel’s Kay Adams, PGA Tour player Joel Dahmen, retired NFL player Marshawn Lynch and comedian Bert Kresicher on the call, the Netflix Cup will host a pair of eight-hole matches before the two winning sides meet in a sudden death one-hole championship bout. Similar to past editions of The Match, the Netflix Cup will throw “surprise challenges” at the players throughout the course of the event.
The first match will see Rickie Fowler team up with McLaren’s Lando Norris to take on Justin Thomas and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. Fowler and Thomas’ friendship is well known to golf fans, but it will not be the only relationship tested in this competition. Norris and Sainz cultivated a bromance when both were at McLaren, and while they may be rivals on the track, their friendship persists away from it.
In the second match, world No. 7 Max Homa will join forces with Williams’ Alex Albon as the pair face two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly. Similar to the prior foursome, this one comes with some history as Homa and Morikawa are friends through their ties to their alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley. In 2019, Albon replaced Gasly as Red Bull’s second driver to Max Verstappen halfway through the season.
2023 Netflix Cup
Viewing information
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 14 | Time 6 p.m. ET
Location: Wynn Golf Club — Las Vegas, Nevada
Live stream: Netflix
Format
The Netflix Cup will be contested under eight holes of match play and scramble format. Each player will tee off with his own ball before selecting the better of the two. Players will hit their seconds from the selected tee shot and continue this process until they hole out with the score from each team counting for the hole. The two winning teams will advance to the final hole for a sudden death championship match.
Teams
Rickie Fowler & Lando Norris: Fowler comes into the Netflix Cup following a resurgent year. Claiming his first PGA Tour win in four years, playing for the U.S. Ryder Cup team and setting a major championship scoring record at the U.S. Open, the 34-year-old returned to his normal colorful self. He won’t be left on an island as Norris is a certified golf junkie having just gone to the Ryder Cup in Rome. In 2022, Norris told Golf Digest his handicap index was 13.6.
Justin Thomas & Carlos Sainz: While Fowler surged in 2023, Thomas back tracked. The two-time PGA Championship winner endured the worst season of his career, missed out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs and did little to help the U.S. following a captain’s selection for the Ryder Cup team. Still, he is Justin Thomas, a showman who has thrived on this stage many times before with the most recent instance coming in a win with Jordan Spieth over Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in The Match. Like Norris, Sainz plays his fair share of golf and even had the opportunity to tee it up at the Ryder Cup All Star match. The Spaniard reportedly plays to a 9 handicap.
Max Homa & Alex Albon: The world No. 7 is the class of this field following his victory on the DP World Tour. He has captured back-to-back two-win seasons on the PGA Tour, collected his first major top 10 at this year’s Open Championship and nabbed a 3-1-1 record in his Ryder Cup debut. He draws Albon, who is currently dating LPGA player Lily Muni He. Despite a professional in his corner, Albon recently stated he does not heed her advice on the golf course, which in general is probably not wise.
Collin Morikawa & Pierre Gasly: Morikawa got off the schneid with his win at the 2023 Zozo Championship. After a two-year hiatus from the winner’s circle, the 26-year-old finally got a few bounces to go his way as he raced past the field in the final round in Japan. The American will look to Gasly as his partner in crime. CBS Sports’ very own Kyle Porter teed it up with Gasly in October, and noted his handicap is north of 20. This didn’t stop the Frenchman from getting the better of KP in their nine-hole match.