PGA Tour debuts new 'smart tracer' technology during RBC Canadian Open TV broadcast

PGA Tour debuts new 'smart tracer' technology during RBC Canadian Open TV broadcast

Luke Clanton's pro debut has gotten plenty of attention at this week's RBC Canadian Open. But golf fans watching Thursday's TV broadcast at home also saw the debut of some new PGA Tour technology.

The opening round of Golf Channel's coverage featured the introduction of "smart tracer," the latest iteration of the popular shot tracer, or, more accurately, "drone tracer," that viewers have enjoyed for years.

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The tour's Live Drone AR, which uses a moving drone camera to track shots, recently won the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award at the 46th annual Sports Emmys. That technology debuted in 2024, but smart tracer enhances it.

As viewers saw on Thursday, the shot tracer line changes color based on where the golf ball is expected to go. It starts off blue while the outcome is being determined (using real-time probabilities being calculated every 100 milliseconds) before switing to green for a fairway and red for missing the fairway. In case you missed it during the broadcast, here's what it looks like in action:

Pretty cool. Well, unless you don't like losing some of the suspense over where the ball is going to wind up.

According to the tour, smart tracer is the "latest development to enhance broadcast presentation for fans." It will also be used at the Travelers Championship, Rocket Mortgage Classic and all three FedEx Cup Playoffs events later this season.

Sources: www.msn.com