Branden Grace credits Presidents Cup experience for success at 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale

The PGA TOUR announced today that it is creating a first-of-its-kind augmented reality (AR) experience on mobile devices for fans attending the three FedExCup Playoff events from August 19-September 5, 2021. Powered by Quintar’s (www.quintar.ai) Q.reality live sports and entertainment AR platform, the PGA TOUR AR app for iPhone is made exclusively for fans attending any of the rounds at THE NORTHERN TRUST, BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship. The app is designed to amplify their live tournament experience through the power of AR using data provided by ShotLink powered by CDW over one signature hole at each tournament. The PGA TOUR AR app is available for free exclusively in the App Store. Users will be instructed to turn their phones sideways once they open the app, which will take the device into AR mode and link it to the course. Whether they are sitting in the stands or standing greenside, fans simply point their iPhone to the tee box or green and interact with the action. “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for fans who wish to take their on-site experience to a whole new level,” said the PGA TOUR’s Senior Vice President of Digital Operations, Scott Gutterman. “Providing an AR experience for fans has been our goal and we couldn’t be happier to launch this app with Quintar. Our aim is to make the sport of golf more immersive and we believe this is just another step in the right direction.” The live AR experience will be available on the three par-3 signature holes: No. 14 at Liberty National Golf Club for THE NORTHERN TRUST; No. 17 at Caves Valley Golf Course at the BMW Championship; and No. 15 at East Lake Golf Club for the season-ending TOUR Championship. The app’s live and fan controlled replay experience will feature AR tee-shot trails with apex indicator, ball and player indicator cards, distance to pin measurements, and interactive 3D models of the greens displaying topography so fans can spin around each shot to see the different angles and the challenge each player faces with every putt. Fans can capture the AR blended action and share with their friends on social. “Imagine watching shot trail graphics for tee shots fly through the air and putt trails speed across the green, providing fans in attendance with an unprecedented almost video game-like experience of the real life tournament playing out in front of them,” said Buddy Scott, Quintar’s Senior Vice President of Product and Experiences. “With our patent-pending spatial registration platform, we seamlessly link mobile phones to physical playing surfaces over distance, time and fan movement. This allows for live AR data to be accurately placed and viewed by fans no matter where they are located around the hole.” In addition to the live shot tracking, the app includes a live “pick ‘em” style game, called the ‘Par-3 Player Picks,’ where participants select one player from each grouping before they play the signature hole at each FedExCup Playoffs event. Points are won and lost depending on how each selected player does on the hole. A fan leaderboard will be tracked and displayed with the top three eligible participants from each round winning prizes. The development of the PGA TOUR AR app is aided by existing data gathered by ShotLink, the TOUR’s longstanding state-of-the-art scoring system. ShotLink, in utilizing technology from CDW, captures and reports real-time vital information on every shot, by every player, during tournament competition. Every shot is translated into thousands of statistics, changing the way fans watch – and now interact with – the PGA TOUR, bringing them closer to the action. “

Click here to read the full article…

Click here to read the full article…

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Justin Thomas still hasn’t fully recovered from the dead-arm sensation he suffered two days ago, but his game looked in better shape Saturday during the third round of The Honda Classic. Thomas, the defending champion, shot a 3-under 67, his best round of the week, and moved to 1 under through 54 holes. Depending on what the leaders do Saturday afternoon, that might leave him in striking distance entering the final round. What didn’t look so good was his right arm, covered by a strip of black Kinesiology tape from his hand to his elbow. “The more tape you can have on it, the better – although I don’t look that great,â€� Thomas said. “It felt fine. Just the shoulder is a little bit sore, but that helped it out.â€� Thomas injured his arm when his 9-iron struck a tree on an approach shot midway in Thursday’s opening round. He described it as a dead-arm sensation, saying it felt like he had been punched in the arm. Thomas shot a 4-over 74 on Friday and made the cut on the number. He has been receiving treatment the last two days “pretty much up my whole arm,â€� he said. He told his Saturday playing partner – and former University of Alabama teammate — Trey Mullinax that he was worried about his arm so much that it helped take his mind off golf. “Coincidentally, I played pretty well,â€� Thomas said. Asked after his round Saturday if he was still dealing with the dead arm, Thomas replied, “It’s off and on. It just gets in random places that it hurts.â€� With the start of the Florida Swing and a busy schedule of championship events looming – THE PLAYERS Championship is in two weeks, followed by a major in every month through July – Thomas can ill afford to have the injury linger. He didn’t rule out the possibility of withdrawing, acknowledging there were times the last two days that he thought about it. “If it hurts, if I have the potential to injure myself further or I’m going to hurt myself as the season goes on – it doesn’t matter the position you’re in, I would have to withdraw,â€� he said. “I’ve never done that before. I would hate to have to do that, especially at a place like this where you can go shoot 5- or 6-under and jump a lot of people. That’s just not my nature to quit. “But that being said, my health is always going to come first.â€� Asked if he’s worried that the injury might get worse, Thomas replied: “Everything can always get worse, so I’m sure it can. I just hope it doesn’t.â€�

Click here to read the full article…