By Jeff Eisenband/PGA TOUR
There will be one extra player on the 17th tee at this year’s The Players. He’s actually a resident of TPC Sawgrass, but he has never taken a full swing.
The Players’ Tiffany & Co. trophy – a three-dimensional depiction of the tournament’s gold swinging man logo — will hop off his stand and come to life on the broadcast this week. The PGA Tour, working closely with NBC and creative agency The Famous Group, will become the first golf organisation to incorporate mixed reality into its broadcast, as the trophy will digitally appear on the 17th hole.
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Mixed reality is the merging of real and virtual worlds, making physical and digital objects co-exist in real time. For THE PLAYERS, the technology will be used to show the trophy taking aim at TPC Sawgrass’ famed Island Green at the par 3 17th hole. His shots will be illustrated with a golden trail.
Honouring the 40th anniversary of the first Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, the trophy’s swing is an amalgamation of the action from past Players champions. Two interstitial moments will be used as part of the transition process between shots on the 17th hole.
Another two animations will spotlight iconic moments in The Players Championship history. On Saturday, the trophy will reimagine Tiger Woods’ “Better than most” putt from his 2001 title (complete with Tiger’s fist pump). On Sunday, the trophy will reenact Rickie Fowler’s 2015 tee shot from his playoff win.
Along with the trophy’s mannerisms, broadcast audio overlay will narrate the trophy’s depiction of each moment.
“I think as we head into The Players every year, we’re always looking for the new way we can push technology. It’s usually a point in our schedule where we try to stretch the limits,” says Anne Detlefsen, Senior Director, Digital Content, PGA Tour. “We thought about a way we could not just do it for the sake of throwing mixed reality into our broadcast, but really add some extra layers of storytelling to it.”
Fans may recognise The Famous Group’s work from other instances of mixed reality. The Famous Group incorporated digital slime into the NFL’s Nickelodeon Wild Card Game and commemorated famous Los Angeles venues during the Super Bowl pregame show in February.
Last September, the company formulated a mixed-reality panther for the Carolina Panthers’ home opener against the New York Jets. While the panther did not harm any season ticket holders, he did rip down a Jets flag and his presence on social media went viral. The partnership generated more earned media for the Panthers than any other activation in the last decade.
Part of what makes mixed reality so impressive is the ability to animate while not changing weather conditions. Whether TPC Sawgrass is sunny and warm or if it is cold and rainy, the trophy will take his swing in the present setting.
While the animation is prerecorded, its merging with the outside world is not. The Players Championship TV broadcast will use two cameras to capture multiple angles of this sequence in real-time. Details down to the reflection of the trophy’s gold exterior matching the existing position of the sun will be evident as this mixed reality comes to life.
The current real-life The Players Championship trophy debuted in 2019, glistening with both sterling silver and 24k gold vermeil. Like the mixed reality 3D animation, the real-life trophy’s swing and form is combination of past Players champions, going back to Jack Nicklaus’ win in the first Players in 1974.
Fans can expect to see mixed reality shots throughout the week on both NBC/Golf Channel and PGA Tour Live broadcasts. Sure, you’ve watched the highlight of Woods’ “Better than most” putt over and over again, but have you seen it physically happen at No. 17 in the 21 years since? No. But you will see it in mixed reality form this week.
