IBM Tees Up watsonx AI-powered Digital Fan Features for the 2025 Masters Tournament
IBM and the Masters Tournament announced a series
of digital fan features returning to the award-winning Masters app and
Masters.com ahead of this year's Tournament. The watsonx AI-powered
capabilities " the latest in a 30-year collaboration between IBM and the
Masters " aim to deliver a more personalized and engaging experience for
millions of new and existing golf fans around the world following all the
action at the Masters Tournament.
More
strategic shot analysis with Hole Insights 2.0
IBM Hole Insights is returning for its
second year as part of the Track Shots experience on Masters.com and the
Masters app. The AI driven Insights 2.0 leverages watsonx technologies
including the Granite LLM to offer data-driven insights around every shot taken
on every hole at Augusta National. This includes:
- Data-driven recaps of how each hole has played
daily and throughout the 2025 Tournament (e.g.,
"No. 14 has played difficult today, with 25% of scores resulting in
bogies.").
- Projections of how each hole might play, based
on past and current performance data (e.g.,
"No. 9 is projected to be the third most difficult hole
today.").
- Historical insights into how each hole has
played, based on nine years of Tournament data " including more than
180,000 shots " and ball position on course (e.g., "Shots historically hit in this location have
an 82% chance of resulting in a birdie.").
This year, the
solution has been built to provide enhanced, more powerful insights. To enhance
the quality of the insights, IBM Consulting fine-tuned Granite and other LLMs
on a wealth of sources including historic shot locations, insights from golf
experts including past Masters Tournament caddies, and Tournament data spanning
nine years and more than 180,000 shots.
Revamped
Masters app on Apple Vision Pro
IBM and the Masters are once again
giving fans an immersive view of the action with the Masters app on Apple
Vision Pro. This year's updated app offers fans clearer 3D visuals of Augusta
National and new features such as Video on Demand. Fans will also experience
returning features such as Hole Insights 2.0 and AI Narration.
With the Masters app
on Apple Vision Pro, fans can look through different 3D views of each hole,
explore the dramatic elevation changes throughout the course, and even watch
multiple Tournament live streams simultaneously.
"For more than
30 years, IBM and Augusta National have worked side-by-side to co-create unique
digital experiences that bring the beauty, tradition, and excitement of the
Masters to millions of golf fans worldwide," said Jonathan Adashek,
Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications. "This powerful
combination of people and technology, including watsonx AI models and agents,
is a live case study for businesses across all industries on how they too can
unlock the potential of their data to deliver actionable business
insights and exceptional customer experiences."
The Masters and IBM
have partnered for nearly 30 years to transform Masters data into world-class
digital experiences for golf fans. This includes launching Masters.com in 1996,
AI Highlights, Round in Three Minutes, My Group, Player Insights, AI Narration,
Hole Insights, and the Masters app on Apple Vision Pro.
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