In a revolutionary announcement, KPMG has taken its data-driven solutions for the LPGA Tour’s players and fans to a completely new level for the 2024 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship with the launch of the KPMG CHAMPCAST presented by T-Mobile.
From Sahalee Country Club, players, fans, and media will have availability to access advanced real-time, shot-level data as well as AI-powered predictive analytics. In addition, T-Mobile’s 5G solutions will help enhance the experience for fans, athletes, and media.
This new collaboration is set to help drive technology innovation in women’s golf and make this year’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship the most statistically advanced and 5G-connected event ever on the LPGA Tour.
“In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, this new collaboration with T-Mobile is the latest milestone in our effort to advance the women’s game by utilizing and integrating the latest technology,” said KPMG U.S. Chair and CEO Paul Knopp.
This year will mark a significant one for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – and women’s golf as a whole. Using the same ShotLink 2.0 technology from the PGA Tour, the KPMG CHAMPCAST gives fans an immersive experience to follow every athlete in the field at Sahalee Country Club with features like 3D imagery, radar data, shot trails, green views, and individual shot video highlights.
This will be the first PGA Championship of any kind to provide fans with the digital KPMG CHAMPCAST presented by T-Mobile experience online and via the championship’s brand-new mobile app.
"This championship is one of the biggest weeks in women’s golf and I’m looking forward to competing at Sahalee. T-Mobile's support of the event has elevated it even further and the technology improvements give us, and the fans, a chance to engage with data from every shot throughout the week like never before,” said Nelly Korda, the LPGA Tour’s No.1-ranked golfer.
KPMG Performance Insights has helped to bring tracking technology to the women’s game after it had been prevalent in the men’s game for nearing two decades after the PGA TOUR began using ShotLink. Tracking technology even helped to create a new statistic in 2011 called ‘strokes gained’ (a method of comparing players to the field in a variety of categories like putting and off-the-tee). KPMG Performance Inishgts launched in 2021.
Ahead of this year’s championship, the team from ShotLink captured radar and high-resolution drone imagery of Sahalee and upwards of 47 gigabytes of mapping data to create a digital twin of the golf course – allowing fans to follow every shot of their favorite golfer this week.
T-Mobile’s 5G network will also be a key part of delivering the data of nearly 24,000 shots played by every golfer in the field – and the PGA of America will use this technological advancement for years to come.
The KPMG CHAMPCAST will also help give viewers an even more immersive experience with the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship this year.
“It makes the broadcast move along and makes it more entertaining. I love the predictive part of this person had a zero percent chance to win and all of a sudden, they do. There is just some really cool stuff to that. They just make the broadcast more interesting for those watching,” said Stacy Lewis, a KPMG Brand Ambassador. “I'm excited the CHAMPCAST though, being able to go on that app – because the guys have had this forever – know where you can pinpoint and see all the shots.”
One of the LPGA Tour’s biggest pain points a half-decade ago was the lack of stats and analytics beyond what could be counted via scorecards and television coverage. Putting in an effort to solve that particular problem was a priority for KPMG – an audit and tax firm that often solves analytical queries for clients. Not only will this be a benefit to the broadcast and fans, like Lewis said, but the players themselves should be able to take advantage of the new numbers at their fingertips thanks to the KPMG CHAMPCAST.
“If you think about coming off the course after your rounds, (the players) now have real-time data to understand their game. If they didn’t shoot quite what they wanted to shoot, they can diagnose whether it was their short game, putting, or driving using the data we’re capturing and then they can improve their game on the putting green or driving range,” said Knopp. “We’re really excited about this advancement. It’s only possible because of the amazing partnership between the PGA of America and T-Mobile to make sure we have the right technology. And more importantly, it’s the same technology the men use.
“It’s another example of how we’re trying to elevate and create more equity in the women’s game.”
While there will be plenty of ways to analyze the post-round data (for both players and followers), AI-powered predictive analysis will give fans and media the ability to see some of the following in real time – win probability, top 5/10/20 probabilities, the projected cut line, and the winning score.
“Technology is a great equalizer in sports. We are grateful to the commitment of KPMG, T-Mobile and our partners at the PGA of America to help tell the story of the LPGA Tour players more aggressively and more accurately than ever before,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan. “The talent on our tour is unbelievable and a technology solution like CHAMPCAST, combining with our season-long KPMG Performance Insights platform helps advance interest in the game and understanding of how incredibly talented these athletes are.”
Whether you’re at home, on the go, or on site at Sahalee Country Club, this new technological collaboration is going to give you an opportunity unlike any other to follow the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
And this innovation is just the beginning.
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