As golfers competed to grab the biggest bit from the $20,000,000 purse at The Travelers Championship, they saw something new. The event had only 18 holes to play to crown the 2024 champion. With many in contention at TPC River Highland, only Tom Kim was fortunate to take the 54-hole solo lead at the clubhouse. But no, this wasn’t what we were referring to as ‘new’.

The PGA Tour introduced a unique technology for its events. Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal posted a video of Kim tackling the par-5 6th hole. CBS broadcast it with a new moving drone tracer technology that intricately showed the distance and the apex of any shot.

CBS coordinating producer Sellers Shy shared with ‘Sports Business Journal’ via an email, “Over the past few years we have prioritized broadcast enhancements such as high tracers off the tee to incoming robo tracing. The addition of moving live drone tracing further extends our continuing commitment to innovate, which hopefully will bring the viewer even closer to the action.”

Bolt6 provided CBS with this tracking technology and thus, it was possible to deliver the shot from the drone and send it to the on-site production trucks. Additionally, this company was also involved in revamping PGA Tour’s ShotLink 2.0 system- This is the optical tracking technology that transformed the tour’s data collection.

Thus, commentators The Travelers Championship described it as something never done before on television and ground-breaking technology for golf rounds and those who love stats. However, as CBS self-proclaimed itself as the first to use the tracer technology in the sport, golf enthusiasts had a huge revelation to break that belief.

Tearing down the claim that it was never done before, the golf world searched the internet to prove that CBS was not the first to use the technology on the PGA Tour. Instead, it was Greg Norman’s league, which showcased the tracer technology way before them. This resulted in several comparisons between PGA Tour and LIV. What did fans say?

Fans won’t leave the PGA Tour alone! Did they really copy LIV?

Three months ago, LIV Golf posted a tweet showing Bryson DeChambeau’s long drive shot at LIV Golf Las Vegas. They used a similar drone shot tracer to catch and share it with the golf world. Since 2023, they have heavily invested in this technology. Now, CBS’s claim to be doing this for the first time didn’t sit well with one fan as they stated, “Lol copied LIV.”

Apart from drones, LIV Golf has also adopted a unique left-hand scoring pylon as well as mics that can access player-caddie comments. In fact, LIV Line — a feature within LIV Golf broadcasts — was named Innovation of the Year by the 2024 Sports Technology Awards. It allows more focus on putting attempts as well as shows the optimal line from the ball to the hole.

After LIV Golf’s debut, the PGA Tour introduced the concept of signature events, in which many similar rules were present, such as elevated prize purses, limited fields, etc. The golf world shed light on the similarities back then. Another thing now got added to that list, as one fan claimed, “Another idea taken from LIV.” 

Another user agreed about the Tour copying LIV. However, they were not as candid as the other fans. Instead, it was more of a surprise and seen as a step taken by the PGA Tour in the right direction. The user stated, “Tour broadcast copying LIV homework! At least they are getting the right answers! Good for them bringing new stuff to the broadcast.” 

When LIV Golf started, the PGA Tour players were not the only people that the breakaway circuit signed a deal with. Even the official broadcasters from popular channels like Golf Channel joined the infamous Saudi-backed league. One such veteran commentator was David Feherty, who used to comment only on the PGA Tour events since 2013. However, he shifted to LIV. Thus, a fan stated that the PGA Tour and CBS were taking a page out of the Saudi-funded league. “Nice copy from the @livgolf_league broadcast. All the ex Tour broadcast people who are now on LIV have budgets and creative freedom to do things differently. Different must be good when the Tour starts copying them.”

As all things go, there will always be contrasting opinions in the golf world. So, while most of them believed that CBS copied LIV Golf, one of the few did not support that claim. They denied it and commented, “Never seen this on LIV.” 

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf might always be put against each other as both compete in various departments. But this time, do you think, CBS or the PGA Tour broadcast was a copy from LIV Golf? Share your thoughts in the comments.

UPDATE: Scottie Scheffler won The Travelers Championship and earned $3,600,000. This became the golfer’s fourth signature-event victory this year. Tom Kim finished second and obtained $2,160,000.