DATA & ANALYTICS
CREDIT: ORLANDO RAMIREZ VIA GETTY IMAGES
Golf is a game of probabilities and nowhere are those probabilities more punishing than at Augusta National. The 2026 tournament saw the most accurate iteration of Hole Insights to date, thanks to an intriguing blend of silicon and soul.
To refine the AI’ s understanding of the course’ s notorious undulations and deceptive wind patterns, IBM brought in Jim‘ Bones’ Mackay. As a legendary caddie who spent decades stalking the fairways of Augusta, Bones provided the qualitative context that raw data often lacks.
Jim‘ Bones’ Mackay
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IBM and The Masters have been working together for three decades
When a ball comes to rest, the system captures its exact coordinates and compares them against millions of historical data points. However, with Bones’ input, the AI could better account for the difficulty of a specific lie or the risk-reward nature of a pin position.
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