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You can now watch EVERY water ball on the island-green 17th at the Players Championship

October 7, 2019

The Players Championship is already the premier PGA Tour event, but the Tour brass are still trying everything they can to raise its profile even higher. Next year, that effort will take the form of self-described “revolutionary” live-streaming coverage.

While that description might be a bit dramatic, the streaming plan the Tour has in store for the 2020 event is unquestionably impressive. During next year’s tournament, viewers will be able to watch every single shot from every single player in the field live online across all four rounds, via PGA Tour Live.

That means, if you so choose, you can watch every single tee shot hit at TPC Sawgrass’ island-green, par-3 17th hole, including every ball that finds the bottom of the pond (you can also see if any balls end up on the 17th’s OTHER island green).

All in all, the new wall-to-wall streaming coverage will feature an estimated 32,000 shots live online. It’s an incredible feat, and it seems to be the first time truly comprehensive, live coverage has been offered at a professional golf event.

The closest competitor in recent memory was the online coverage on Masters.com during the 2019 event. For Tiger Woods’ triumphant fifth Masters victory in April, fans were able to view videos of every shot hit at Augusta. However, the action was not available live as it will be at the 2020 Players.

It’s mind-bending to imagine the coordination and technological lift, not to mention human effort, required to pull of the plan. And we don’t yet know the details about how it will work for fans on PGA Tour Live. If it’s a success, though, you can already picture the idea spreading far and wide and eventually becoming the norm at all PGA Tour events.

The 2020 Players Championship kicks off March 13, 2020, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

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