Augusta National is a golf club more famed for it’s strict rules and firm commitment to tradition and etiquette than openness and innovation, but on Friday [AEST] the Masters broke new ground with Rory McIlroy talking live on television during his round.
The Northern Irishman wore ear-pods at times during his first round of level-par 72, allowing him to offer instant insight into his performance to television networks.
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“The club reached out to us last week and just inquired if I would be interested in doing it,” said McIlroy.
“I did it a couple weeks ago at the Match Play. It definitely feels a little less intrusive with the ear piece rather than someone right up next to you with the microphone like they’ve been doing it in Europe for a couple of years.
“I thought it would be a cool thing to do. I did it in Austin and didn’t feel like it took me out of my rhythm in any way or made me think about things too much. So it’s nice to provide the audience at home a little bit more insight into what’s going on out here.”
While Augusta National may seem an unlikely place for such a development, since mobile phones are banned from the course, McIlroy said that he wasn’t surprised at their willingness to innovate.
“I think with the previous chairman (Billy Payne), he definitely brought things forward. Then I think since Chairman (Fred) Ridley has come along, he’s really tried to push the envelope as well,” he said.
“So I think Augusta have a great balance of blending that history and that tradition but also making sure we’re keeping up with the times.”
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American Max Homa also conducted an interview on the 14th hole, having been one of the players who has pioneered the live link-ups.
“I was one of the people early on talking about doing it and kind of helped in a way form the idea. Then the actual smart people took over. So I’m just a fan of it, and I think it’s good for golf. It’s good for the fans. I think it makes coverage more interesting,” he said, adding that the intrusion didn’t impact hugely on his focus.
“It’s like being on a phone call for 10 minutes. It’s not the end of the world. It might be a shade distracting, but I think if it’s 5 per cent distracting and it’s 95% per cent something positive for golf, I can get past that.”
McIlroy said he would love to see Tiger Woods be the next to don the ear-pods, but he was also frank in his assessment of the likelihood of that occurring: “Zero”.
While there was mixed reaction to the new initiative, the majority of the golf world seemed to be fans of the access.
