We are almost two months on from the highly-anticipated release of Netflix's Full Swing Season 2 documentary, and as the dust begins to settle, I decided to look at who the biggest winners were.
The documentary aimed to engage a new audience with the game, while also appealing to those already in love with the sport, but the fans weren't the only beneficiaries of the eight-part series.
Prior to the early-March release, I noted down the Instagram follower numbers of some of the biggest stars that appear on the show, and the results clearly indicate who is winning the popularity contest...
Whose Instagram Follower Numbers Increased?
Unsurprisingly, based on his recent dominance in every facet of the game, Scottie Scheffler's account saw the most growth in the two month spell since the documentary's release.
It would be foolish to claim that this is solely down to his appearance in the series, especially when you consider that in that span Scheffler has won four times in five events, including a second Masters title, but the fact remains that his popularity stakes are on the rise.
Prior to the season two drop, Scheffler had just 625,000 followers on Instagram, which is around 20 percent of the followers Rory McIlroy had, but that gap closed significantly as Scheffler now stands at 943,000.
It surely won't be long until we see the World No.1 reach the one million mark, as he continues to accumulate titles and records across the men's professional game.
As expected, McIlroy himself also received a bump in followers recently. Leading the way with 2.8 million followers prior to the release, McIlroy featured heavily across the series and could well have that to thank for a 100k increase.
McIlroy is an iconic figure in the game, and one that the majority of golf fans across the world root for, but the turbulence in his career appears to have poetically matched the turbulence in men's professional golf.
His struggles are well-documented in the series, but his efforts to unify the game and stand up for what he believes in may have endeared a few more to jump on the 'Team McIlroy' bandwagon – especially on his social media accounts.
Two other players that saw a small boost in their follower numbers were Tom Kim (+34k) and Wyndham Clark (+45k). Dedicated episodes for these players allowed us to get to know them on a deeper level, with both coming across well to the cameras.
Kim's gritty resilience to play on through injury to finish second at The Open, and Wynhdam Clark's emotional journey to a first Major Championship title appear to have appealed to viewers of the show, and golf fans in general, cementing them as favorites in the eyes of many.
Interestingly though, there was no change in the follower numbers for the likes of Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson, but perhaps more surprisingly there was little movement for hero of the show, Keegan Bradley.
Considering the rise in popularity that we saw for Joel Dahmen following the first season, I was certain that we would see more than the 5,000 follower increase for Bradley.
His reaction to the news of not making the USA Ryder Cup team was exemplary, and his unwavering support for the team despite his undoubted disappointment set a great example for other professionals and aspiring athletes.
The two Ryder Cup Captains, Luke Donald and Zach Johnson, also featured heavily in the series, and despite the European dominance in Rome it was actually much closer in their Instagram growth – each receiving a 1,000 follower boost.
