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IBM, Augusta National Launch AI Features for the 90th Masters

Built on IBM's watsonx stack, the new experiences use conversational AI for archival search with data-driven shot analysis for fans.

Overview

  • Masters Vault Search is now available on Masters.com, letting fans query every shot shown in final-round broadcasts back to 1968 using natural-language prompts and watch full-length replays.
  • The search system runs on IBM Granite small language models and watsonx Orchestrate, augmented by optical character recognition, speech-to-text of commentary, and scene detection to pinpoint clips.
  • Enhanced Hole Insights returns for its third year with greater accuracy, combining on-course visuals, historical scoring probabilities, and contextual trends to analyze every player’s shot on every hole.
  • Legendary caddie Jim ‘Bones’ Mackay advised IBM on improvements to Hole Insights, bringing course-specific expertise to the feature’s analysis.
  • IBM says the Vault capabilities were developed over more than a year and tested during the 2025 tournament, with app integration a possibility next year, alongside features like AI Highlights, Round in Three Minutes, My Group, and Apple Vision Pro support.