“It is incredible. They are the gold standard,” says Jimmy Lusk, the man behind popular X account, Rory Tracker (@RoryTrackr). His social media page charts every McIlroy move and shot. “I mean, man, I’ve talked to other trackers, because there is a lot of us now since 2019 thanks to Tiger Tracker, they say the same. It is by far the best app and the best technology at any event. It almost puts us out of business. This is the gold standard tracker.” The tournament that combines horticulture, exclusivity and sporting theatre partners with tech giant IBM to make the app. This in itself is remarkable. An extremely gated club in an extremely gated sport making every moment of its flagship event available at no cost. “The partnership between IBM and the Masters spans almost 30 years and is a complete, end-to-end digital transformation journey focused on the Masters website and app,” explains Noah Syken, VP, Sports and Entertainment Partnerships, IBM. “While the technologies may have evolved, the vision in this partnership has remained the same – deliver a world-class digital experience that honours the Master’s tradition while embracing innovation. “What’s changed over the years is how we bring this vision to life. We’ve continued using IBM technologies to deliver more personalised fan features. For example, Hole Insights which uses our Granite models to offer more detailed analysis on historic, current and predicted shots taken at Augusta National, and My Group which allows fans to follow every shot from their favourite players.” Success on this course is defined by mathematics and strategy. The Masters app demonstrates that. The numbers alone are mind-boggling. 180,000 historic shots over nine years with 30 data points per shot. Hole insights shows how each player wants to navigate the fairways with stroke averages depending on where the ball lands. How many bogeys have there been on each hole? What is predicted to play difficultly? Volunteers track the X, Y, Z coordinates of every ball using lasers on the course. Recently caddy Jim "Bones" Mackay revealed that he recommends fellow caddies and pros get intimately familiar with the app. “With all they give, I can’t believe they don’t have some sort of charge,” says Brian from Mayo, the operator of Lowry Tracker, (@LowryTracker). Certain golfers don’t benefit from extensive TV coverage. "What is great is that you can follow any player who isn’t shown on the main channel. It makes a real difference to how you can watch the event.” Why do it? This phenomenon takes a lot of time, technology, effort and resources. But the bottom line ensures that it’s worth it. A prestigious partner elevates a prestige event. It is in the Masters’ interest that fan engagement is stoked. Just as it is in a golfer's interest that supporters can keep up with their career. “Shane follows the page the last few years,” says the Lowry Tracker. “I’ve got tickets from him and his manager. They send me clothes or golf gear at Christmas. I’ve been invited to events. Brian (Moran) really has looked after me. I’ve been to a few Irish Open and The BMW PGA Championship last year.” These tracker accounts try to satisfy golf fans in a similar way. Ever since the Tiger Woods iteration developed a cult following, more and more tracker accounts have popped up. That was operated by the Sports Network Golf Channel. Others are just golf-obsessives keen to channel their passion. Lowry Tracker started during Covid after the GAA and soccer season was suspended. Rory Tracker began in 2018 and became more consistent after McIlroy claimed the Players Championship a year later. The Masters app makes their lives a lot easier. “We’re trying to tweet out every shot,” says Lusk of his Rory page. “I’m either watching on TV or following the PGA Tour app. Bet365 has a tracking feature that is kind of like the PGA Tour TOURCast. That shows distances and stuff like that. But a lot of the time, it isn’t on TV too. So I am literally looking at an app and tweeting out without any context.” There are several Rory Trackers. He even follows one of them, not Jimmy’s one. He laughs over Zoom at how it impacts his life. Lusk works at a golf course in Florida. He and some of the other prominent McIlroy Trackers are in a group chat together. After the US Open heartbreak he found it therapeutic. “Now that the platform is bigger, I’ve been thinking about why I do it,” says Lusk. “At first it was just fun, right? Then Covid hit, so I was watching every event. All in. Then I just gained a lot of followers after a few years. I guess I still don’t know why really. “Sometimes I’ll tweet something criticising someone and people reply back, ‘you are a Rory Tracker!’ I’m aware how absurd this is. I’m just a big fan and I love golf. “I mean, I’m not an objective journalist here. I’m a Rory Stan through and through. I live and die with him. That is how I do my tracking, like a fan of any sports team. I react as myself to the highs and lows. “It’s not to be friends with Rory. I’m sure Rory and his team, if they have seen my tweets, don’t agree with a lot or any of what I say. But it’s just me being myself. “See I’m originally from Minnesota. 2009 was the PGA Championship at Hazeltine and I was lucky to go on the Sunday and watch. Y.E. Yang beat Tiger, the first time he failed to win a major he had led after 54 holes and all that. "Anyway, I was 10- or 11-years-old. I see this chubby kid with curly hair bobbing down the 18th fairway, he ended up tied for third. I was there with my grandpa and uncle. I just said, ‘I want to root for that guy.’ You know the Rory bounce? I talk about this all the time. You can tell how Rory is playing based on how he bounces down the fairway.” He and his followers will revel in this week. For some, they are an essential component of this week. The course, the theme music, the app, the players, the patrons, the atmosphere, the historical context, the coverage, the community; they all combine to make the Masters what it is. “I’m not much of a writer or good with my words even. This is just a way to channel my Rory fandom. “I guess to tie all this back, with all this new technology, even since I started tracking, technology has improved so much. The PGA Tour App. The Masters App. I know people ask, why not just follow the app? I love it, but I feel like I’ve grown this little community too. It’s what Twitter was built for. There is just something about being interacting with another human, living through an experience with them, that is different.”