Happy Gilmore 2


Happy Gilmore 2 is a 2025 American sports comedy film serving as a sequel to Happy Gilmore, and starring Adam Sandler. It was written and produced by Sandler and Tim Herlihy, and directed by Kyle Newacheck. Sandler, Julie Bowen, Christopher McDonald, and Ben Stiller reprise their roles from the original film, while Benny Safdie and Bad Bunny star in new roles.
The film follows Happy Gilmore returning to professional golf to help pay for his daughter's overseas ballet school following his wife's death that led him to relapse into alcoholism. Filming took place in New Jersey from September to December 2024. Happy Gilmore 2 was released onto Netflix on July 25, 2025, and received mixed reviews.

Plot

After winning his first Tour Championship in 1996, Happy Gilmore has a successful golf career, winning five more championships. He also has five children with his wife Virginia Venit, the professional golf tour's public relations director. After accidentally killing Virginia in 2014 when one of his drives hits her in the head, Happy feels devastated and quits golf out of guilt. He soon becomes an alcoholic and loses everything after a repossession worker sues him for instigating a brawl when mistaking the worker for a car thief.
Eleven years later, Happy works at a supermarket and lives with his only daughter and youngest child Vienna, while his four sons—Gordie, Wayne, Bobby, and Terry—have all moved out and are working to support their father and sister. Vienna wants to pursue dancing, and her dance teacher recommends enrolling in a four-year ballet school in Paris, which costs $75,000 annually. Frank Manatee, CEO of Maxi Energy Drink and the upcoming golf league Maxi Golf, later approaches Happy and wants him to be the league's star. Happy refuses but resumes playing golf with encouragement from John Daly, wanting to win enough money to put Vienna through ballet school.
During his first round since Virginia died, Happy drinks heavily and crashes his golf cart, which gets him fired from his job and in legal trouble. A jury agrees to remove all charges if he completes an alcohol treatment program and refrains from any physical altercations. This treatment program's leader turns out to be Hal L., the caretaker who forced Happy's grandmother into sweat shop labor.
Vienna and John advise Happy to practice seriously and to join the next Tour Championship, which he does. One month later, Happy meets old companions, including Doug Thompson, president of the Tour, who worries about Maxi Golf rising fast. After Happy suggests having a competition between the two leagues, Doug proposes a match with the five best players from each league competing against each other. Happy, with help from his new caddie, Oscar Mejías, plays well at the Tour Championship in the first three rounds, but collapses in the fourth round on Mother's Day, seeing visions of Virginia on the course before getting drunk, finishing sixth. The winner, Billy Jenkins, admits to being in Maxi Golf, having participated in the Tour Championship as a taunt, vacating his place on the team and enabling Happy to join.
Having been in psychiatric care since losing to Happy at the 1996 Tour Championship, Shooter McGavin is granted a release by Frank. He explains to Shooter that all players on Maxi Golf, including Billy, have their iliolumbar ligament severed, increasing their driving distance, and asks him to join as their captain. Disgusted with this and how Frank's "extreme" version of golf highly strays from the traditional game, Shooter escapes. Having heard about Virginia's death, Shooter visits her grave and briefly fights Happy there before they call a truce. Happy later meets Slim Peterson, whose father Chubbs Peterson had mentored Happy in 1996, and Slim joins Shooter in coaching Happy, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler to face Maxi Golf.
During the match, Scottie gets disqualified in the first round for punching his opponent. Although the course is heavily designed to advantage Maxi Golf, as all their golfers are long drivers, the traditional golfers manage to make it 2–2, with the help of Shooter, who replaces Brooks after he gets injured. Happy and Billy then face off in a tie-breaker. Happy has a chance to putt for victory, but Frank alters the green to make it impossible to putt. He then makes a deal with Happy: if Happy misses the putt, Happy must join Maxi Golf. Otherwise, Frank must discontinue Maxi Golf, buy Happy's house back, pay for Vienna's ballet school, give Happy his new Rolls-Royce Spectre, and open a new Italian restaurant for Oscar. With help from the lattermost, Happy sinks the putt and wins.
When Happy celebrates his three-month sobriety, Hal is exposed as a con artist and gets arrested. Maxi Energy Drink is discontinued after being revealed to cause significant oral health issues, leaving Frank in ruin and in hiding. Happy later accompanies his family at an airport as they fly off to Paris, promising to join them after completing the British Open, but is forced to walk, having forgotten to charge the electric Rolls-Royce, as he waves to visions of various people from his past.

Cast

  • Adam Sandler as Happy Gilmore, a golfer who comes out of retirement
  • Julie Bowen as Virginia Venit Gilmore, Happy's deceased wife
  • Christopher McDonald as Shooter McGavin, Happy's former rival who suffered a mental breakdown following his defeat at the Tour Championship at the end of the first film
  • Benny Safdie as Frank Manatee, the CEO of Maxi Energy Drink and sponsor of Maxi Golf
  • Bad Bunny as Oscar Mejías, Happy's caddy and a former busboy who dreams of owning a restaurant
  • John Daly as a fictionalized version of himself, a hermit who lives in Happy's garage
  • Ben Stiller as Haloysius "Hal L." Lieberman, the abusive leader of a support group for alcoholics. Stiller reprises his role as Hal L. from both the previous film and Hubie Halloween.
  • Jackie Sandler as Monica, Vienna's dance teacher
  • Sadie Sandler as Charlotte, a member of Hal L.'s support group
  • Sunny Sandler as Vienna Gilmore, Happy's youngest child and only daughter who aspires to be a dancer
  • * Loulou Lazarus as 6-year-old Vienna
  • Maxwell Jacob Friedman as Gordie Gilmore, Happy's eldest son
  • * Roy Tusia as 6-year-old Gordie
  • * Ellis Kraver as 10/12-year-old Gordie
  • * Brigg Liberman as 16-year-old Gordie
  • Ethan Cutkosky as Wayne Gilmore, Happy's second son
  • * Sully Flannery as 6/8-year-old Wayne
  • * Phoenix Raine Crepin as 10/12-year-old Wayne
  • Philip Fine Schneider as Bobby Gilmore, Happy's third son
  • * Leo Turk as 8/10-year-old Bobby
  • * Max Gottfried as 14-year-old Bobby
  • Conor Sherry as Terry Gilmore, Happy's youngest son
  • * Rocco Gozzi as 6-year-old Terry
  • * Mason Gozzi as 6/8-year-old Terry
  • * Calhoun Metcalf as 10-year-old Terry
  • Dennis Dugan as Doug Thompson, the commissioner of the professional golf tour
  • Kevin Nealon as Gary Potter, an eccentric sports commentator and former professional golfer
  • Haley Joel Osment as Billy Jenkins, a young pro-golfer with a powerful swing similar to Happy's who is part of the Maxi Golf team
  • Lavell Crawford as Slim Peterson, son of Happy's late mentor Chubbs who also sports a prosthetic hand due to a vending machine incident
  • Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy, and Scottie Scheffler as fictionalized versions of themselves, members of the team representing the traditional Tour Championship at the Maxi competition
  • Will Zalatoris as a fictionalized version of himself, depicted as Happy's previously-unnamed former caddy
  • Eminem as Donald Floyd Jr., son of the late heckler Donald Sr.
  • Marcello Hernandez as Esteban, Oscar's cousin
  • Travis Kelce as Oscar's abusive boss at the club restaurant
  • Oliver Hudson as Harley, a Maxi Golf team member
  • Fernando Marrero as Screech, a Maxi Golf team member
  • Reggie Bush as 8-Ball, a Maxi Golf team member
  • Becky Lynch as Flex, a Maxi Golf team member
  • Boban Marjanović as Drago Larson, the son of Happy's late boss Mr. Larson
  • * Joseph Vecsey as Little Drago
  • Judy Sandler as Mrs. Larson
  • Nick Swardson as Ben Daggett
  • Blake Clark as a homeless man living on a beach

    Cameos and returning characters

portrays the Gilmores' neighbor Pat, Kym Whitley plays support group member Bessie, and John Farley appears as Nate. Eric André, Martin Herlihy, and Margaret Qualley appear as Steiner, Fitzy, and Sally, a trio of young golfers whom Happy joins, while Austin Post portrays DJ Omar Gosh. Scott Mescudi plays an FBI agent. Women's National Basketball Association player Kelsey Plum and musician Andrew Watt play the Golf course receptionists.
Verne Lundquist reprises his role as himself from the first film alongside Jack Giarraputo as Jack Beard. Robert Smigel reprises his role as the IRS agent from the first film, now working as a lawyer. Jon Lovitz plays a "dapper" man at a driving range and Rob Schneider appears as a dwarf riding a tricycle in Happy's imagination. Sportscaster Dan Patrick portrays Pat Daniels. Longtime Sandler collaborator Jonathan Loughran portrays the orderly who releases Shooter from the mental facility.

Professional golfer cameos

Professional golfers Keegan Bradley, Fred Couples, Nick Faldo, Tony Finau, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Sergio García, Charley Hull, Hunter Mahan, Collin Morikawa, Jack Nicklaus, Corey Pavin, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Lee Trevino and Bubba Watson make cameo appearances as themselves.
Nelly Korda and Nancy Lopez appear alongside co-writer Tim Herlihy as the doctors overseeing Shooter's release from the mental facility, and Paige Spiranac plays an employee of Dick's Sporting Goods.

Celebrity appearances

Famous non-golf personalities appearing as themselves.