Meet the rookies: Matthew NeSmith

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The PGA TOUR is once again giving fans the opportunity to immerse themselves in the coverage of one of its premiere tournaments. Three holes of this week’s Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide will be broadcast in virtual and augmented reality. PGA TOUR fans can watch coverage of Muirfield Village’s par-4 14th and par-3 16th holes in virtual reality. The iconic par-3 12th will be available to watch in augmented reality on the PGA TOUR’s new AR app, PGA TOUR AR. The virtual reality coverage of Nos. 14 and 16 will be available on five different platforms: • The PGA TOUR’s Twitter account, @PGATOUR • Periscope broadcast via @PGATOUR • The PGA TOUR mobile app • Google Daydream via PGA TOUR VR Live app • Samsung Gear VR via PGA TOUR VR Live app This will be the third time this year that fans can experience this groundbreaking way to watch the action. Two of the TOUR’s most famous par-3s, the 16th hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and 17th at THE PLAYERS Championship, also were broadcast in virtual reality, as was TPC Sawgrass’ drivable par-4 12th hole. The Memorial Tournament will be the third time the TOUR’s virtual reality content also can be watched using a cardboard headset, allowing even more fans to enjoy this cutting-edge technology. The VR broadcast also can be watched on Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR or Google Daydream. While the competition will be broadcast with 180 degrees of viewing angles, the TOUR also will show brand elements in the full 360 degrees. This week’s brand elements will come from Nationwide, the Memorial’s presenting sponsor. The VR content will be captured by three different cameras on each of the aforementioned holes, broadcasting the action from the tee, the fairway and the green. The audio and picture-in-picture broadcast will come from PGA TOUR LIVE, giving fans a totally different angle on the competition. The PGA TOUR’s AR hole coverage debuted at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. The launch of the PGA TOUR AR app marked the first time live sports data was integrated into ARKit, Apple’s exclusive AR platform. It allows users of the PGA TOUR AR app to see physical characteristics of the golf course that were previously unseen on the broadcast. Augmented reality will allow fans to get a view that was once available only to fans on site. The TOUR is planning to add more holes from other tournaments throughout the year, but it has confirmed that East Lake Golf Club’s par-5 finishing hole will be showcased in AR at the TOUR Championship. The PGA TOUR LIVE broadcast of the Memorial Tournament, as well as the virtual and augmented reality features, will allow fans to engage with the broadcast from Muirfield Village in exciting new ways. It’s just like being there. HOW TO WATCH – VIRTUAL REALITY   Step-by-step on the PGA TOUR mobile App 1. Download the PGA TOUR app from the App Store or the Google Play Store. 2. Open the app and follow the prompts for camera/location/etc. 3. Click the hamburger menu in the top right. 4. Select either Leaderboard (if live) or Video (if not live). 5. If Leaderboard is selected, a red banner will appear with a VR icon on the right. Tap on the VR icon, then tap a video to watch. Choose Cardboard or Panoramic. If Cardboard, load phone into Cardboard device and use the Gaze Controls by focusing the cursor/dot on the desired menu object. If Panoramic, pan phone or swipe left/right to see content. 6. If Video is selected, a VR tab will appear at the top of the screen. Click Live VR (if live – notated by red color) or click On Demand VR (notated by blue color). Tap on a video to watch. If Cardboard, load phone into Cardboard device and use the Gaze Controls by focusing the cursor/dot on the desired menu object. If Panoramic, pan phone or swipe left/right to see content. HOW TO GET THE APP – AUGMENTED REALITY Step-by-step on how to download the PGA TOUR App 1. Open the App Store on your iPhone or iPad by tapping on the App Store icon 2. Type “PGA TOUR AR” into the search bar and tap on the blue “Search” button in the keyboard. 3. When the PGA TOUR AR app appears in the search results, tap on the “GET” button 4. Once the app has finished downloading, tap the app icon to launch the app 5. When the app opens, a series of screens and dialog boxes will appear. When the dialog boxes pop up, tap “OK” to allow the PGA TOUR AR app to access your camera and location HOW TO USE THE APP – AUGMENTED REALITY 1. After allowing the PGA TOUR AR app to access your camera and location, a screen that explains how to interact with the hole models will appear. Tap on the blue “CONTINUE” button at the bottom of the screen. 2. Find a flat, horizontal surface to view the hole models in the app. 3. When the blue box appears, tap the screen to lock the blue box in place on the horizontal surface. The hole models will appear in the area marked by the blue box. To choose a new area for the hole models, tap the white circular arrow in the top right corner to restart the surface detection process. 4. A hole model selection slider menu will appear. To view the available holes, swipe your finger left or right. When you find a hole model you want to view, tap the white arrow on the hole model. 5. Once the hole model has finished downloading, it will appear in full color. Tap the hole to place it on the horizontal surface. 6. When the hole model loads, tap the arrow on the “SELECTED PLAYERS” navigation on the bottom left side of the screen. Tap the name of the players you want to view. Their shot trails will appear on the hole model. To turn off a player’s shot trails, tap on the player in the “SELECTED PLAYERS” area of the screen. The model will default to Round 1 but another round may be selected by tapping on the round number. 7. To view a different hole model, simply tap on “Hole Selector” in the top left corner of the screen and choose a new hole model to view. Some holes have unique changes in elevation and the hole models allow you to see them more clearly. 8. If an app rating dialog box pops up, feel free to give it 5 stars.

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The final piece of the puzzle is upon us. On Aug. 18, the last day of the BMW Championship, we learned the identities of the 16 players – eight and eight – who had qualified on points for the U.S. and International Presidents Cup Teams that will play at Royal Melbourne, Dec. 12-15. Eight more (four and four) will be added at the discretion of the captains (Tiger Woods and Ernie Els, respectively) next week, making the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions and Bermuda Championship the last chance to make an impression. This year, though, there’s a twist: It’s possible, given Brooks Koepka’s knee injury, that he won’t be able to play, in which case Woods would get five captain’s picks. Someone could still come out of nowhere with a dominant performance this week, but absent that, here are the most likely players to get the call, plus a few longshots. U.S. TEAM Tiger Woods A lock. (He knows the captain personally!) Looked like he might make the team on merit after he won the Masters Tournament, but he missed the top eight. Healthy again, won the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Gary Woodland spoke for many when he said Woods would be “dumb� not to pick himself. Woods is 24-15-1 in eight Presidents Cup appearances. Gary Woodland Great chance. Strange to think this 35-year-old hasn’t played on a Presidents or Ryder Cup team, but he will likely rectify that after a solo fifth at the ZOZO, where he played the final 36 holes with Captain Woods. “I feel pretty good about my chances,� said Woodland, who was coming off a T3 finish at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES the previous week. Rickie Fowler Good chance. Terrific player, great teammate, popular guy, and has been a fixture on U.S. teams for years. Hasn’t played much this fall as he was busy getting married on the beach, but it’s almost impossible to imagine him not making the team. Tony Finau Good chance. Only T59 at ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, but a T9 at Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, where he shot a third-round 62, was probably enough. Went 2-1-0 as a captain’s pick, including a 6-and-4 thumping of Tommy Fleetwood, at 2018 Ryder Cup. Given what a rough week it was for the Americans, that performance stands out. Patrick Reed Good chance. Didn’t play well at 2018 Ryder Cup, but it wasn’t a good course for him and he wasn’t on form. Traditionally beyond tough to beat in team golf, he won THE NORTHERN TRUST in August and finished a respectable T17 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Could do himself a big favor with a solid result at WGC-HSBC Champions this week. Kevin Na Decent chance. He would be a rookie, and a T46 at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP and T20 at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES didn’t help his cause, but the fact remains he’s one of the hotter players in the game. When he won the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open it was his third victory in a span of just 30 starts, but he may need Woods to get that fifth captain’s pick. Phil Mickelson, Kevin Kisner, Chez Reavie Longshots. Kisner would probably have to win HSBC this week, although his WGC history is strong as the Dell Technologies Match Play champion. Reavie also finished in the top 15 in points, and also could make things interesting with a win at HSBC. Mickelson, Kisner’s partner at Liberty National two years ago, has played on every U.S. Presidents and Ryder Cup team since 1994, but even he admits he hasn’t done enough to justify a pick. And even winning the HSBC might not help him now. Now whether he winds up in Melbourne as an assistant captain …   INTERNATIONAL TEAM Jason Day Great chance. He’s easily the biggest name not to qualify on merit for the International Team, and the odds that he will be left out are remote. Hasn’t showed much form, but a victory in the star-studded MGM Resorts The Challenge: Japan Skins (Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama) prior to the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP was at least something.  Sungjae Im Great chance. The PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year last season, Im is tireless (35 starts last season), so if he gets hot, he could play every session. His short game is streaky, which may be why he hasn’t won, but consistency from tee to green yields results (seven top-10s, 16 top-25s last season) and makes him an attractive pick. What’s more, Im, 21, has a T3 (ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP) and solo second (Sanderson Farms Championship) already this season. Joaquin Niemann Great chance. Like Im, Niemann, 20, who won A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier to open the new season, will figure prominently into the International Team’s future and present. The first TOUR winner from Chile looks like a great bet to start learning the nuances of team golf at Royal Melbourne in December. Adam Hadwin Decent chance. The man from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, finished T4 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, and backed it up with a solo second at the Safeway Open, his best finish on the PGA TOUR since winning the 2017 Valspar Championship. “I feel like I’m continuing some of the momentum coming from last year,� Hadwin, 10th in the FedExCup, said at the Safeway, where he made eight birdies in the final round. Byeong Hun An Decent chance. An is a big talent who probably should have won by now, given how often he’s flirted with victory, but the fact remains he’s in form. He’ll be hard to ignore after a third-place finish at the Sanderson Farms Championship and two more top-10s at THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, in his native South Korea, and ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP. Branden Grace Sliver of a chance. Went 4-0-0 (largely with partner Louis Oosthuizen) at the 2015 Presidents Cup in South Korea. Also went 1-2-2 at the 2017 Presidents Cup, one of the better records amongst the International Team as they struggled mightily. Alas, Grace just isn’t in form and may have to win this week’s Bermuda Championship to justify a pick. Ryo Ishikawa, Jazz Janewattananond, Erik Van Rooyen, Justin Harding Longshots. A resurgent Ishikawa might have the best chance, as he’s won twice on the Japan Golf Tour this year and has played on two Presidents Cup teams. Realistically, though, all would probably have to win this week in Shanghai, or come darn close, to find their way to Melbourne.

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