Making history with 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights
Using data-driven insights and AI-powered predictive analytics to help define a new era in women鈥檚 golf
Using data-driven insights and AI-powered predictive analytics to help define a new era in women鈥檚 golf
Client
Ladies鈥� Professional Golf Association (LPGA)
Primary Goal
Use data and AI to improve athlete performance and better meet stakeholder needs
Platform
乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights
At 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网, we admire the women on the LPGA Tour for their skill, talent, and all they bring to the sport of golf. And we鈥檙e honored to bring leading-edge data, analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI) to the LPGA through the 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights platform. Through our collaboration with the LPGA, we鈥檝e seen individual players break historic records. We鈥檝e watched the US Solheim Cup team use data-driven insights to help inform decisions on captain鈥檚 picks and pairings. And now we鈥檙e watching fans deepen their engagement as data brings more meaning to every stroke. Combining the power of data with the passion of sport is a win for everyone.
Client transformation journey
You spend years refining your talent and developing the skills to take you to the top. Then 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 gives you the data and insights that help you start seeing new opportunities and making performance gains you never knew were possible. That鈥檚 a game-changer for any athlete鈥r any leader.
Stacy Lewis
US Solheim Cup Captain
In February of 2022 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Ambassador Stacy Lewis was announced as the 2023 U.S. Solheim Cup captain. The Solheim Cup is a biennial competition between the United States and Europe in which 12 players on each team face off in match play competition. It's widely considered as the marquee event in women's professional golf. As the youngest captain in Solheim Cup history, Stacy sought to lead the US team in a way it had never been led before.
鈥淔rom reading some things about the Ryder Cup, I learned of all the analytics that were being used by both teams. You know, if the guys have access to this, I feel like we should have access to it as well and so knowing what 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights have provided for our tour, I approached them to see if they could help the Solheim Cup team.鈥� 鈥� Stacy Lewis
Launched in 2021, 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights is a game-changing technology platform that provides data insights and advanced performance analytics for the LPGA Tour. The program鈥檚 full field shot level data and advanced analytics, such as Strokes Gained, proximity averages, and performance indexing, provide critical information for players to diagnose and improve their performance.
鈥淒ata has literally transformed our entire lives, it's disrupted entire Industries, and has changed the way that we work and live. We spend a substantial amount of time not just thinking about data and technology, but the core business problem. We spend time with people navigating process observing what's happening and that allows us to help formulate technology and data analytics solutions that actually mean something to the business.鈥� 鈥� Mike Krajecki
鈥淪o 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 is a real leader in the data analytics space with our clients. It鈥檚 what we do both outside the sports industry and inside of sports. It was a natural extension of our business to be able to assist the LPGA in providing the Strokes Gained analytics and the Performance Insights that they need in order to have this D&A based program.鈥� 鈥� Shawn Quill
鈥淕olf is a really difficult game. It requires quite a bit of analytics. It鈥檚 a very subjective game too, so people need to have all the data that they can have to drive their own performance, so we were at a significant disadvantage to not have that data. These women are the most competitive athletes that you鈥檒l ever find, and you have to use all the resources that are at your disposal and we鈥檝e got to be able to provide those resources to our athletes and without that data you鈥檙e just guessing.鈥� 鈥� Mollie Marcoux Samaan
鈥淵ou know, I understood the performance insights that we had week to week you know with players. I just didn't realize all that was going to be possible with the Solheim Cup.鈥� 鈥� Stacy Lewis
鈥淏asically, it's an optimization of the potential of the players on the team. You know, putting them in the best position to succeed, analyzing what players strengths and weaknesses are, what players are going to succeed on certain types of holes [and] certain types of golf courses. Predictive analytics are important in terms of, you know, giving us the most information possible. We assemble different combinations of players and run 10,000-20,000 different simulations as to how a certain match might happen." - Justin Ray
鈥淚t's changing the way I think about pairings. It's changing the reasons that you pair people up. It's really been a great starting point of trying to help us make the best possible decisions.鈥� 鈥� Stacy Lewis
At the 2023 Solheim Cup in Spain, the United States and Europe played to a 14-14 tie, with incumbent champions Europe retaining the cup. Despite the overall score, the US team achieved historic results throughout the week, including:
鈥⒙犅犅犅犅犅� The first ever foursome session sweep in US Solheim Cup history.
鈥⒙犅犅犅犅犅� the best total foursome score on European soil
鈥⒙犅犅犅犅犅� and the best ever score after four sessions on European soil
鈥淭he Performance Insights it worked, I think that's first and foremost. You know, I had faith in it, I believed in it, and that first session on Friday morning was just kind of the icing on the cake. It was like, okay this is the blueprint and we got to just keep moving forward from here.鈥� 鈥� Stacy Lewis
鈥淚 think the use of data in golf is a great analogy for us at 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 and in the world of business. To say, it鈥檚 one thing to have all the data. It's one thing to run routines and come up with what you hope are insights, but to know that they鈥檙e right and that they鈥檙e repeatable and then you still have to hit the shot and I think that鈥檚 where we鈥檙e finding with clients. It鈥檚 grabbing those insights and then making meaningful, accurate, insightful decisions based on that data. Those are the clients that are really winning in today's world.鈥� 鈥� Mark Gibson
As the Official Data and Analytics Advisor of the LPGA Tour, 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 has assembled a multidisciplinary team to support women鈥檚 golf in the quest for differentiated insights that can help take athletes and teams from good to great.
This team has deep knowledge, capabilities, and vast experience in key domains including the sports industry, modern technology and platforms, data and advanced analytics including AI, key performance levers, as well as trust, privacy, and security.
Team member roles range from big-picture strategists to off-shore developers who keep the work moving around the clock, and squads of analysts, some of whom were in the team room at the Solheim Cup and walking the course alongside the US team captains.
What everyone on Team 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 shares is a commitment to delivering value through insights that position US Captain Stacy Lewis and her team to perform at their best聽at the Solheim Cup and allow LPGA athletes to diagnose and improve their performance week-to-week.聽
Just two years before the 2023 Solheim Cup, the LPGA Tour lacked a sophisticated data and analytics platform. 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 set out to fully understand the LPGA鈥檚 current state, desired outcomes, and opportunities and then design and develop a future state that will unlock new value for the LPGA Tour and its athletes.
Key activities included the following:
When 2023 US Solheim Cup Captain Stacy Lewis came looking for the kind of captain鈥檚 analytics and insights that the men had been leveraging for years, 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 knew it would require a sophisticated platform enabled by modern technology, data, advanced analytics and AI, as well as an exceptional team to navigate through the complexities and achieve desired outcomes.聽 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 delivered both.
The 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights platform would be utilized to provide new insights and value. More advanced predictive analytics and a new captain鈥檚 dashboard were developed to deliver key performance insights ranging from strokes gained to pressure ratings for each athlete from week-to-week. Scenario planning tools would enable the team captain to explore options like order of play and pairing strategies.
While some team members would collaborate closely with Stacy, other team members would be working in the background to gather data and run simulations to unlock insights that can be turned into better decisions, actions and ultimately outcomes. An example of that includes leveraging data to make better decisions relating to team selection, optimum pairings, and course strategy 鈥� proactively, before the tournament, and reactively during the tournament.
New AI-powered enhancements are derived from a robust set of data inputs. 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights鈥� AI-powered models assess players鈥� actual performance levels and variations in their performance. Additionally, the platform conducts approximately 20,000 live simulations during each event while in play, drawing on historic scoring-level data from various golf associations (LPGA, LET, ALPG, JLPGA, KLPGA)鈥攄ating back to 1992 for the LPGA. Live hole-by-hole scoring data during events further enhances the platform鈥檚 predictive capabilities.
Powerful analytics turns data into predictive insights, including:
The platform employs a machine learning methodology to weigh each factor, continually refining its predictive capabilities based on historical results and evolving performance trends.
乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 released a sports documentary, Driven by Data: Stacy Lewis鈥� 2023 Solheim Cup Captaincy, which aired on Golf Channel on January 16th, 2024, and is available on Peacock and YouTube. The 45-minute film tells the story of how longtime 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 brand ambassador, and 2023 U.S. Solheim Cup Captain Stacy Lewis, the youngest captain in Solheim Cup history, leveraged 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights, the game-changing data insights and advanced performance analytics platform used on the LPGA Tour to make strategic decisions.
Whether you鈥檙e nearing the top of your game, or are working toward getting there, data, analytics, and AI can help you spot opportunities faster, make decisions with greater confidence, and achieve significant performance gains. Tell us your goals. And let us show you new possibilities. 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网. Make the Difference.
乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights to Power Captain Stacy Lewis and Team USA
Lewis will utilize 乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights data and analytics to help inform Team USA player selections, pairings and more
乐鱼(Leyu)体育官网 Performance Insights
Online database allows fans and media to dive deeper into LPGA Tour athlete鈥檚 talent and skills throughout the season.
How we helped a consumer media provider