2022 U.S. Open: Sights, sounds and best moments from the second round

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. “

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AVONDALE, La. — Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are a good team even when they’re playing for cash and not just a flag. Cantlay holed a 25-foot eagle putt early and chipped in from 40 feet for birdie late, while Schauffele contributed six birdies of his own, and their three straight birdies to close gave them a 13-under 59 in fourballs Thursday to lead the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. It set a tournament record since the Zurich Classic switched to team play in 2017, and the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup partners were willing to claim a piece of golf’s magic number. “I haven’t done it before. I don’t think Pat has, either. I’ll count it in my book,” Schauffele said. They had a one-shot lead over the team of Matthew NeSmith and Taylor Moore. The group at 61 included Robert Garrigus and Tommy Gainey, and Aaron Rai and David Lipsky. Masters champion Scottie Scheffler and Ryan Palmer were five shots behind at 64. The second round moves to foursomes, and while alternate shot is the more difficult of the format, Cantlay and Schauffele have put together a 4-0 mark in their partnerships at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne and he 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. “It’s just the first quarter. We’re only one ahead,” Cantlay said. “But we are going into a format on Friday that we really like — I think Xander and I really like alternate shot. It’s one of our strengths for the week, and we’re really looking forward to it.” Moore was lucky to have much strength at all. He was in the emergency room Wednesday morning from food poisoning, got some fluids and nausea medicine and finally was able to keep some food down Thursday morning. “Just tried to finish every hole,” Moore said. “That was kind of a win within its own right.” Lipsky avoided the hospital, though he was involved in a car accident earlier in the week. Turns out there was a car in front of him that had broken down, and as Lipsky went to change lanes he said the driver behind him slammed on the brakes and hit him. “I’m all right. I think the other two drivers were fine,” Lipsky said. “Yeah, I was a little bit of a hectic beginning to the week.” Cantlay and Schauffele — who have gone on vacations together when they weren’t representing their country in the cups — were extremely effective on the greens. Only three of their 11 sub-par holes were from putts inside 10 feet. “We played really well, made a lot of putts today on a day that was a little tricky with the wind and didn’t birdie a lot of the same holes,” Cantlay said. “When you do that in this format, that’s really the key.” Equally impressive was the father-son duo of Jay and Bill Haas. The 68-year-old father had four of their seven birdies, three of them from the 15-foot range, in their 65.

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A stout field is at RBC Heritage this week as Round 3 gets under way Saturday. Patrick Cantlay birdied final four holes to take two-shot lead at RBC Heritage Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Thursday-Friday, 4 p.m.-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 1 p.m.-3:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3:30 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 1 p.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Radio: Thursday-Friday, 1 p.m.–7 p.m. ET. Saturday, 3 p.m.–6 p.m. Sunday, 1 p.m.–6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes FEATURED GROUPS Saturday Marquee Group Stewart Cink, Webb Simpson Featured Groups Cam Davis, Henrik Stenson Justin Thomas, Tyler Duncan Featured Holes: No. 4 (par 3), No. 7 (par 3), No. 14 (par 3), No. 17 (par 3) MUST READS Patrick Cantlay birdies final four holes to take two-shot lead at RBC Heritage Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas tackle twists and turns at RBC Heritage Mission accomplished for Morgan Hoffmann at RBC Heritage History, mystique distinguish RBC Heritage Cut prediction: RBC Heritage TOUR Insider: A closer look at the Straka brothers

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