Latest news with #PGATournament
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Virtual Eye wins 4th Sports Emmy
Winning Emmy awards never gets old, it seems. Virtual Eye, the sports division of Dunedin company Animation Research Ltd (ARL), has just won its fourth Sports Emmy award at the 46th Annual Sports Emmy Awards ceremony in New York. And Virtual Eye commercial and production executive vice-president Ben Taylor said, given the company's trajectory, there could be more in the future. It collaborated with several other technology companies around the world to provide groundbreaking cover of the 2024 PGA Tournament using drones. For that, it won the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award, beating other companies working on other large-scale sporting events, including the XXXIII Olympic Games (Immersive Audio at Scale), the NFL (StatusPro Visualizer VR Technology) and Thursday Night Football (AI Feature Latency). The award recognises the biggest leaps ahead in technical achievement in sports broadcasting. Mr Taylor said its new technology allowed golf viewers to get up above the trees and see the makeup of the course and where the ball was going — all in real time. "So, in the event, we would fly the drone up above the trees, and about three seconds after the player hits the ball, there's a predictive circle that animates where the ball's going to land. "It allows viewers to get above the trees and see around the corner of the dog leg." The technology allowed the company to "tell the whole story of the game", and it had resonated with the viewers, he said. "Although it was a very, very technical achievement, the whole thing for us is around storytelling. "And that's the reason I think it won, because what it allowed the broadcaster to do is to show all of the graphics people are used to seeing, but from a live drone. "That's never been done in golf before." None of the companies involved in the project went to the awards ceremony in New York, Mr Taylor said. The award was accepted on their behalf by representatives from the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA). "Getting one Sports Emmy is an amazing achievement. Getting our fourth — it's incredible. "Again, I think it's kind of recognition of the work that the team is doing down here, that we can stay so consistent and so relevant on the leading edge of innovation, from here in Dunedin. "I think it's a blueprint for other companies working in Dunedin, working in New Zealand and working globally. "I think that's probably the most satisfying thing about it." The team were "very proud" of the achievement, Mr Taylor said. "And I don't think we're done yet either. "The team continues to push the boundaries and I think that's why we've been recognised these four times, and why hopefully we'll be recognised again in the future as well. "Winning awards like this never gets old."
Otago Daily Times
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Virtual Eye wins fourth Sports Emmy for groundbreaking tech
Winning Emmy awards never gets old, it seems. Virtual Eye, the sports division of Dunedin company Animation Research Ltd (ARL), has just won its fourth Sports Emmy award at the 46th Annual Sports Emmy Awards ceremony in New York. And Virtual Eye commercial and production executive vice-president Ben Taylor said, given the company's trajectory, there could be more in the future. It collaborated with several other technology companies around the world to provide groundbreaking cover of the 2024 PGA Tournament using drones. For that, it won the George Wensel Technical Achievement Award, beating other companies working on other large-scale sporting events, including the XXXIII Olympic Games (Immersive Audio at Scale), the NFL (StatusPro Visualizer VR Technology) and Thursday Night Football (AI Feature Latency). The award recognises the biggest leaps ahead in technical achievement in sports broadcasting. Mr Taylor said its new technology allowed golf viewers to get up above the trees and see the makeup of the course and where the ball was going — all in real time. "So, in the event, we would fly the drone up above the trees, and about three seconds after the player hits the ball, there's a predictive circle that animates where the ball's going to land. "It allows viewers to get above the trees and see around the corner of the dog leg." The technology allowed the company to "tell the whole story of the game", and it had resonated with the viewers, he said. "Although it was a very, very technical achievement, the whole thing for us is around storytelling. "And that's the reason I think it won, because what it allowed the broadcaster to do is to show all of the graphics people are used to seeing, but from a live drone. "That's never been done in golf before." None of the companies involved in the project went to the awards ceremony in New York, Mr Taylor said. The award was accepted on their behalf by representatives from the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA). "Getting one Sports Emmy is an amazing achievement. Getting our fourth — it's incredible. "Again, I think it's kind of recognition of the work that the team is doing down here, that we can stay so consistent and so relevant on the leading edge of innovation, from here in Dunedin. "I think it's a blueprint for other companies working in Dunedin, working in New Zealand and working globally. "I think that's probably the most satisfying thing about it." The team were "very proud" of the achievement, Mr Taylor said. "And I don't think we're done yet either. "The team continues to push the boundaries and I think that's why we've been recognised these four times, and why hopefully we'll be recognised again in the future as well. "Winning awards like this never gets old."
New York Post
19-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Scottie Scheffler has awkward trophy mishap during PGA Championship celebration: ‘We'll fix it'
Scottie Scheffler's excitement over capturing the PGA Championship title quite literally blew the top off the Wanamaker Trophy. Scheffler was celebrating his third major title when he lifted the vaunted trophy and the lid went flying off, sending several of the PGA of America execs standing behind him running to try and catch the top before it hit the ground. It was placed on a stand that the trophy had been sitting on and Scheffler put it back together while having a laugh about it. 4 Scottie Scheffler of the United States hoists the Wanamaker trophy as the lid falls off after winning the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 18, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Getty Images 4 Scottie Scheffler laughs about dropping the top of the Wanamaker trophy after winning the PGA Tournament. Getty Images 'Jim, I guess he can't be great at everything,' CBS Sports' Amanda Balionis said on the broadcast as she was wrapping up her interview with Scheffler. 'That happens,' Jim Nantz said in response with a chuckle. 4 Scottie Scheffler of the United States putts the lid back on of Wanamaker trophy after winning the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Country Club on May 18, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Getty Images CBS Sports later posted another video showing Scheffler noticing that the top of the trophy appeared to be a little lopside and started trying to fix it, which included him trying to bang the top on the ground in order to try and fix it. 'We'll fix it,' one of the PGA of America execs tells him in the video. 4 Scottie Scheffler on the ground trying to hit the top of the trophy to fix what he said is a lopsided top. X @GolfonCBS The victory on Sunday in Charlotte was well earned by the World No. 1 after he held off a charging Jon Rahm, who had tied for the lead with birdies on holes 8, 10 and 11 to get to 9-under, while Scheffler dropped down to 9-under. Scheffler finished with a score of 71 for the final round and 11-under for the tournament. 'I knew it was going to be a challenging day. Finishing off a major championship is always difficult,' Schffler told CBS. 'I did a good job of staying patient on the front nine and I didn't have my best stuff, but I kept myself in it, and I stepped up on the back nine. I had a really good nine holes and that's about it.'
