Inside the Field: Valspar Championship

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The PGA TOUR plays its tournaments at some of the most beautiful courses in the world. Thanks to its latest innovation, the TOUR has made watching golf feel almost like being there, even if you’re sitting on your couch. On Monday, the PGA TOUR announced a new AR app called PGA TOUR AR, available to fans for free around the world, on iPhone and iPad. It will allow fans of the TOUR to engage with ShotLink player data in a totally different way, plus attract new fans that might be interested in the technology first and golf second. “To be out in the market with this content is cool because we’re taking advantage of a new technology (AR) and we get to show people how great our sport is,” said Rick Anderson, the executive vice president of global media for PGA TOUR. “That’s what drives us.” The release of the PGA TOUR AR app marks the first time live sports data has been integrated into ARKit, Apple’s exclusive AR platform. It’s the perfect accompaniment to the TOUR’s broadcasts as users will, for the first time, be able to truly see how steep a downhill shot is, the depth a TOUR player sees while debating about carrying a water hazard, and more. What is Augmented Reality? Augmented Reality places virtual objects in your physical world. With ARKit, iPhone and iPad users don’t need any extra hardware in order to take advantage of the stunning graphics and the opportunity to see the depth of some of the TOUR’s most iconic golf courses. The PGA TOUR is once again pushing the boundaries at the intersection of sports and digital technology after its live 360 and virtual reality experience from the Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this season. “Augmented Reality is the next stage in bringing our fans closer to seeing the details of the holes that test the best players in the world,” said Scott Gutterman, vice president of PGA TOUR digital product and operations. “It is another way for us to bring fans inside the ropes. We are very excited about the opportunities that AR creates for the sport.” How it works It couldn’t be easier. Fans of the PGA TOUR can download the app via the App Store for free starting March 12, and get into this week’s action from the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, Florida at the start of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. Users select a hole and find a horizontal surface – a table or desk, for example – and via iPhone or iPad can follow along with the shot trails of their favorite TOUR players. “We’ve been getting really excited about this technology and how it will help us bring great content to our fans, and this technology is particularly cool because it allows us to create an experience for our core fan that’s really unique,” Anderson said. Data available via ShotLink and CDW is presented to fans of the PGA TOUR in a totally new way, as users are able to see physical characteristics of the golf course unseen on the broadcast – something fans could only get in the past by being on-site for a tournament. “We’re not just giving people something to look at, but in the context of our sport, we’ve got great data. We don’t just want to show the holes, but how the players perform on those holes. And if we can do it, do it live,” Gutterman said. “We think we’re pretty far ahead of the AR crowd by using live data in the experience, so we’re pretty excited about what we’re going to be seeing.” Starting at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the featured hole will be the par-5 6th, while fans can go back to the par-3 7th at Pebble Beach Golf Links to review shot trails from this year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. THE PLAYERS Championship will feature TPC Sawgrass’ iconic three-hole closing stretch – including the par-3 17th island green – live and in AR, while at the TOUR Championship, East Lake Golf Club’s final hole will be highlighted. The TOUR is excitedly planning to add more holes from other tournaments leading up to the TOUR Championship, with the ultimate plan to feature at least one hole at every tournament on the schedule. How to get the app 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 or by clicking here. 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 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 colour. 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 images that recently have circulated on social media of Tiger Woods standing and walking without crutches have served as a positive update on the 82-time PGA TOUR winner who suffered serious leg injuries in a automobile crash on Feb. 23. The timing of this week’s ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP follows nicely because Woods’ title at the inaugural edition in 2019 is his most recent. This also marks the first time that the tournament returns to Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Chiba, Japan. Because of the pandemic, the second staging was at Sherwood Country Club in California in 2020. Of course, Woods remains unable to give it a go at Narashino, but a field of 78 has assembled nonetheless. Scroll past the projected contenders for details on the construct of the field, a breakdown of the host course and more. Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include reviews of Kramer Hickok, Hank Lebioda, David Hearn and Ryan Armour, each of whom recorded a top 20 in both prior editions of the tournament. Gay always has been a player who’d contend in a driving contest … if accuracy was rewarded. For a long, long time, he was among the leaders in fairways hit on the PGA TOUR. So, when the wind blows on shorter courses, as it can at Hilton Head and El Camaleón – to name two other sites where Gay has prevailed – he’d seem to have as good a chance as anyone. Mitigating the potential of danger on approach with precision off the tee is one way to navigate a lucrative career at the highest level. However, like all other multiple winners, Gay isn’t a one-trick talent. His co-equal strength is the putter. It’s the reason why he’s won shootouts and, notably, the 2009 RBC Heritage by 10 strokes. So, on tracks on which longer hitters must downshift, his possibilities rise by comparison. Port Royal is a par 71 with three par 5s, but it tips at just 6,828 yards. Outside of standard upkeep, maintenance and beautification, the course is the same. Primary rough stands at two inches and the greens – bermudagrass, naturally – are governed to measure just 10½ feet on the Stimpmeter. That’s slow by TOUR standards for a good reason, and it’s going to be necessary this week. The trailing edge of a Nor’easter that’ll be impacting the Eastern Seaboard of the United States will linger into Thursday’s opening round on Bermuda. As of now, winds are forecast to be sustained at 25 mph with gusts touching 35 mph. The breezes will be abate to the more normal range of 15-20 mph for the remainder, but the first-round scoring average could threaten last year’s second-round split of 73.638 for the same reason. For the week, the 2020 field average 71.151, but as it did at just 69.833 in its debut two years ago, the course would play considerably under par over 72 holes without wind as its primary defense. Inclement weather is expected to move in by Saturday and remain a threat on Sunday. At Port Royal last year, Gay ranked T4 in driving accuracy, T15 in greens in regulation and sixth in putts per GIR. The course ranked as the third-stingiest in fairways hit and 14th-toughest in GIR. (ShotLink isn’t utilized in the tournament, so there are no measured strokes. This means that statistics including all Strokes Gained analytics and proximity to the hole aren’t gathered.) Gay finished outside the top 40 in par-3 and par-5 scoring here a year ago, but he led the field in par-4 scoring and slotted 10th in converting his GIR into par breakers in regulation before turning away Wyndham Clark with birdie on the only hole required in a sudden-death playoff. Six golfers who competed at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP made the trip to Bermuda (as of Monday): Matthew NeSmith (T48 at ZOZO), Brandon Hagy (T54), Kramer Hickok (T57), Sepp Straka (T66), Peter Malnati (74th) and Garrick Higgo (T75).. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Power Rankings TUESDAY*: Sleepers; Fantasy Insider SUNDAY: Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Rookie Ranking * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday

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