USGA uses AI to transform U.S. Open fan experience

At Shinnecock Hills, the USGA turned the 126th U.S. Open into a showcase for AI that reached fans on the course and golfers seeking rules answers off it. The championship ran June 18-21 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., with a 156-player field, including 88 fully exempt players.

For spectators, the USGA App built by Deloitte acted as the central digital feed. It offered live scoring, shot tracking, streaming, highlights, scorecard highlights, customized alerts and on-demand video, giving fans a personalized way to follow every stage of the championship. The app has been part of the USGA’s event coverage since 2023, and it now spans all 15 USGA championships.

The deeper layer came through ShotCast powered by Cisco, which let viewers follow every shot from every player through dynamic shot trails, radar data, green views, 3D hole imagery and near-real-time video highlights in the app and on the website. The system also leaned on the PGA Tour’s ShotLink scoring technology, showing how the USGA’s digital presentation depends on a live data pipeline as much as on television cameras. In practical terms, that meant the tournament was no longer just a broadcast event; it became a shot-by-shot data experience.

The most direct use of AI beyond fan service arrived on May 27, when the USGA launched Rules AI in pilot phase. Built with Deloitte and available through the GHIN app, the tool was designed to give instant answers to Rules of Golf questions using verified USGA content only. The USGA said the system was trained on more than 25,000 specific rules queries, a sign that the technology is being shaped by the questions golfers ask most often rather than by generic automation. It sits alongside the USGA’s Rules Hub, which includes the Rules of Golf app, Rules 101, quizzes, videos and Ask a Rules Question tools.

The stakes for that investment are broader than one major championship. The USGA and The R&A’s 2024 Distance Report found that average driving distance across the included tours rose about 4.0% from 2003 through the end of the 2024 season, underscoring why the governing body keeps building out data and rules infrastructure. AI is now doing more than decorating the broadcast. It is changing how fans watch, how golfers learn, and how the sport explains itself, while the final judgment on the course still rests with human rules expertise shaped by more than 130 years of stewardship.