To no one’s surprise, Happy Gilmore 2 is a hit on Netflix, as the sequel to the beloved Adam Sandler comedy finally arrived on the streamer on July 25. But while we knew that the movie was set to have a number of cameos featuring real-life professional golfers and other celebs, I’m not sure anyone was prepared for just how many cameos there were.
Just about every major golfer of the last five years (sans Tiger Woods) and some of the greatest to ever play the game got a moment to shine in the movie. The movie even served as a peace between the PGA Tour stars and LIV golfers. But there were definitely a few cameos that were among my favorites.
If we’re handing out a best performance trophy among the professional golfers, that would definitely go to John Daly, who plays himself and serves as a wacky uncle to the Gilmore family. Then there are definitely a few jokes that I was pleasantly surprised that the golfers were OK with, most notably world No. 1 and recent Open Championship winner Scottie Scheffler poking some fun at himself and the incident of his arrest a couple of years back for a traffic violation. But neither of those was my favorite.
The best cameo from a pro golfer came from Will Zalatoris to create a fantastic callback to the original movie.
Zalatoris plays himself in the movie, but with a fun fictional twist. It’s revealed that Zalatoris was the young caddy that Happy has in the tournament where he qualifies for the pro tour, the one he famously tackled and choked as he went through joyous and frustrating moments on the course. In the sequel, Zalatoris is playing with Happy as a member of the tour, though he has a hard time shaking the trappings of the first time they were on a golf course together.
This is a great bit of meta humor, as when Zalatoris first broke out as a pro in 2021, many were quick to notice his resemblance to Happy Gilmore’s first caddy. Sandler even sent a tweet when Zalatoris was in contention at the Masters tournament, noting the comparison.
Never mind that Zalatoris was actually born six months after Happy Gilmore was released, the resemblance is perfect, and it made for one of the standout jokes in the movie.
You can watch both Happy Gilmore and Happy Gilmore 2 on Netflix right now, but only for a few more days as the original is leaving the streaming service at the end of the month.
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