''PGA Tour'' is a series of

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s developed and published by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

- and later their

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

sub-label - since 1990. The series primarily features courses featured on the U.S.

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

, and other notable courses (such as those that have hosted majors). In 1998, EA began publishing their golf games with the endorsement of

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

. Following the '' Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour Golf'' release, subsequent titles were named ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour'' and released yearly. Although EA Sports developed most games in the series internally, some SKUs have come from outside developers including the first edition, '' Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour Golf'', which Adrenalin Entertainment developed in conjunction with EA for the

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

and '' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001'' for the PlayStation, which was developed by

Stormfront Studios Stormfront Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. In 2007, the company had over 50 developers working on two teams, and owned all its proprietary engines, tools, and technology. As of the end of 2007, ...

IOMO IOMO was a British mobile game developer and publisher based in Hampshire, England. IOMO was founded by John Chasey, Glenn Broadway and Andrew Bain in 2000. Initially a developer, the company was very successful in the early stages of the mobile ...

also produced versions of the game for mobile phones for the 2002, 2004, and 2005 editions. In October 2013, EA ended its relationship with Woods, being replaced with

Rory McIlroy Rory Daniel McIlroy (born 4 May 1989) is a Northern Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He is a former world number one in the Official World Golf Ranking and has spent over 100 weeks in that position du ...

, then top golfer in the world, who became the new title athlete of the franchise. The game, ''

Rory McIlroy PGA Tour ''Rory McIlroy PGA Tour'' is a sports video game developed by EA Tiburon and published by Electronic Arts for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is an entry in the EA Sports ''PGA Tour'' franchise, and was the first series since 1999 not to feature T ...

'', was released in 2015. The series was responsible for several innovations in the genre, such as the now standard three-click swing method. In 1995 a critic stated in ''

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

'' that "The PGA series flies high above the rest for two reasons: You can completely control a shot, and you play on the best courses around." However, unlike other games in the EA Sports label, the series was often shadowed by other competitors such as the ''Jack Nicklaus'' series, ''Links'' series, '' Microsoft Golf'' or ''

The Golf Pro ''The Golf Pro'' (full title: ''The Golf Pro Featuring Gary Player'') is a 1998 golf video game developed and published by Empire Interactive for Microsoft Windows. The game features professional golfer Gary Player, as well as two golf courses and ...

''. ''PGA Tour'' has brought in almost $771 million during the time it was named for Tiger Woods from 1999 to 2013.

History

Tiger Woods

Starting in 1998,

was the star and face of the series. The deal with Woods was worth $6.2 to 7 million a year at the height of his 15 years at

. Both parties had agreed to incorporate the Masters into a video game for several years, but Augusta National Golf Club agreed only when the presentation and playability of the course was perfect. It took EA Tiburon's 80-person development team three years of work from 2009 to 2011 to make Augusta National available in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12. In January 2012, EA announced that there would be no more releases on the Wii, with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions would continue to receive new online and social features. They also said that the Xbox 360's Kinect and the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Move have both made "significant advances in motion gaming." In February 2013, EA announced that there will be no

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. The W ...

version of ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour''.

Rory Mcllroy

According to ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'',

reportedly planned to outsource ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 15'' and give the in-house team at

EA Tiburon EA Orlando is an American video game developer located in Orlando, Florida, founded in 1994. It was formerly known as Tiburon Entertainment, which was List of acquisitions by Electronic Arts, acquired by Electronic Arts in 1998. After the acquisi ...

two years to make ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 16'' for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (the title would see release as ''

''). However, when CEO

John Riccitiello John Riccitiello () is an American business executive. Previously, he was chief executive officer, chief operating officer and president of Unity Technologies, Electronic Arts, and co-founded private equity firm Elevation Partners in 2004. Ric ...

resigned March 2013, this plan was dropped to save costs. In October 2013, EA's partnership with Woods and a licensing agreement with

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta National, Augusta, or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It is known for hosting the annual Masters Tournament. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Rob ...

reached an end. According to EA, the split is a mutual decision. The agreement with

HB Studios HB Studios Multimedia Limited is a Canadian video game developer based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. It is best known for its rugby and cricket games. History HB Studios was founded in early July 2000 by Jeremy Wellard in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. ...

comes after a similar long-term licensing agreement between the

and

came to an end. EA had dominated electronic golf games thanks to a partnership with 15-time major tournament winner Tiger Woods. From 1999 to 2013 ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour'' was the top video golf game on the market. After EA and Woods ended their agreement in 2013, EA developed a similar game in 2015 in a partnership with

. ''Rory McIlroy PGA Tour'', running on the

Frostbite Frostbite is a skin injury that occurs when someone is exposed to extremely low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues, commonly affecting the fingers, toes, nose, ears, cheeks and chin areas. Most often, frostbite occ ...

engine, did not fare nearly as well as the previous EA versions featuring Woods. The game was pulled from all digital storefronts in May 2018. In September 2018, EA relinquished its agreement with the

in what appears to be a move away from golf games. In August 2018, ''PGA Tour'' licensing director Matt Iofredo said the new partnership with

is part of the sport's on-going efforts to introduce golf to a wider audience.

EA's return to the PGA Tour

On March 29, 2021, EA announced a new golf video game was in development. The game would use the

engine and was announced as ''

EA Sports PGA Tour ''EA Sports PGA Tour'', also called ''EA PGA Tour'', is a sports video game developed by EA Tiburon and published by EA Sports for PlayStation 5, Windows and Xbox Series X/S. It is an entry in the EA Sports ''PGA Tour'' franchise, the first sinc ...

''. The game takes advantage of next-generation technology. This will be through a new long-term agreement signed this year with the PGA TOUR. EA announced on April 7, 2021, a day before the 2021 Masters, that the Masters and its home, Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, will be playable exclusively in ''EA Sports PGA Tour''. It would be released under the name ''EA Sports PGA Tour: Road to the Masters'' and along with the Masters event, ''EA Sports PGA Tour'' will feature the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and the Open Championship, making it the only video game to feature all four major men's professional golf tournaments. Facing pressure from 2K's recent releases, EA announced further innovations would be introduced in ''EA Sports PGA Tour'', one of which was scanning each golf course via aerial means; this was demonstrated with the

Augusta National Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta National, Augusta, or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It is known for hosting the annual Masters Tournament. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Rob ...

course. On May 17, 2021, a delay was announced pushing the title's release date a year later to coincide with the 2022 Masters' Tournament, before removing its release date by November 2021. On March 22, 2022, Electronic Arts announced the delay of ''EA Sports PGA Tour'' by one year to spring 2023. EA did not give a reason for the delay, nor did they announce the game's platforms; on January 19, 2023, a gameplay trailer was released alongside a release date of March 24, 2023, releasing on

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Xbox Series X and Series S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

, and

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. Further delays were announced on March 3, 2023, with the game releasing on the week of the Masters Tournament, with an early access release on Tuesday, April 4, and a worldwide launch on Friday, April 7, allowing the developers,

, to polish the game further before launch.

Course scanning

During development of ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10'', in order to scan and faithfully reproduce the golf courses, the developers spent seven to ten days on each of the game's 16 courses and used a 3D laser scanner made by

Leica Leica may refer to: Companies * Ernst Leitz GmbH, later divided into: ** Leica Biosystems GmbH, a cancer diagnostics company ** Leica Camera AG, a German camera and optics manufacturer ** Leica Geosystems AG, a Swiss manufacturer of surveying and ...

. The developers took the equipment to each hole and placed it and did a 360-degree scan of the entire course to map the terrain of each hole with a high level of accuracy that allows the player to "play the hole and the course exactly as

hey Hey, HEY, or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the ...

would in real life." The development of ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12'' saw the usage of a new state-of-the-art laser scanning technology that took 10 days at Augusta National Golf Club to laser scan every hole in the game, allowing for significantly higher detail than in the previous titles. The development of ''EA Sports PGA Tour'' saw the usage of custom LiDAR helicopter flights over each of the game's courses, flying scans at lower altitudes and slower speeds to achieve a greater density of data points and a higher level of realism than scans from public sources. And they meticulously mapped the courses, using advanced technologies such as photogrammetry, drone technology and GPS for high accuracy.

Games

''PGA Tour Golf'' (1990)

''Information needed''

''PGA Tour Golf II'' (1992)

''Information needed''

''PGA Tour Golf III'' (1994)

''Information needed''

''PGA Tour 96'' (1995)

''Information needed''

''PGA Tour 97'' (1996)

''Information needed''

''PGA Tour 98'' (1997)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour Golf'' (1998)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2000'' (1999)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2001'' (2000)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002'' (2001)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003'' (2002)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004'' (2003)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005'' (2004)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06'' (2005)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07'' (2006)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08'' (2007)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09'' (2008)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10'' (2009)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11'' (2010)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12'' (2011)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13'' (2012)

''Information needed''

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14'' (2013)

''Information needed''

''Rory McIlroy PGA Tour'' (2015)

''Rory Mcllroy PGA Tour'' was released for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

and

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

on July 14, 2015, and is notable for being the first EA Sports game to run on the

engine. Following a hiatus after the release of the previous title, EA announced that ''PGA Tour 14'' was the last to feature

as the title athlete, replacing him with

''EA Sports PGA Tour'' (2023)

''EA Sports PGA Tour'' was released for

and

on April 7, 2023.

Other titles

''PGA European Tour'' (1994)

Developed and published by Electronic Arts for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

, and

Amiga CD32 The Amiga CD32 (stylized as Amiga CD32) is a home video game console developed by Commodore as part of the Amiga line, as well as the final hardware to be developed by the company. Released in September 1993 in Europe, Australia, Canada, and B ...

in 1994, for the

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

in 1995, and for the

SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Europe and Oceania an ...

and

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

in 1996. The SNES version supports the TeeV Golf club peripheral. ''

'' gave the Game Boy version a rave review, saying that it "delivers almost everything that made its 16-bit relative the best." They applauded the selection of courses, effective controls, strong realism, and the graphics, going so far as to state that when played on the Super Game Boy the game looks "almost as good as the Genesis version."

''PGA Tour Pro'' (1997)

Developed by

and published by Electronic Arts for Windows PC in 1997. The game received a score of 5.8 ("mediocre") from

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour'' a.k.a. ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour Mobile'' (2009)

Developed by

Exient Entertainment Exient Limited is a British video game developer and publisher based in Kings Langley, England. Developing for handheld, mobile, console, VR and PC platforms, Having studios in the United Kingdom and Malta, Exient grew a name for designing a ...

and published by

under the

branding on April 23, 2009, for

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

. The game features commentary by

Sam Torrance Samuel Robert Torrance (born 24 August 1953) is a Scotland, Scottish professional golfer and sports commentator. He was one of the leading players on the European Tour from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s, with 21 Tour wins. Torrance was a membe ...

and Kelly Tilghman. The game offers five golfers:

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( ; born 22 February 1963) is a Fijians, Fijian professional golfer. In 1982, Singh turned professional and played on the local Asia Golf Circuit. However, his early career met with controversy, as he was accused of numerous rules ...

Retief Goosen Retief Goosen (born 3 February 1969) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He has won two U.S. Opens, in 2001 and 2004, headed the European Tour Order of Merit in 2001 and 2002, and was in the top ten of t ...

Annika Sörenstam Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 96 international p ...

, and

Natalie Gulbis Natalie Anne Gulbis (born January 7, 1983) is an American professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. Golf career Gulbis was born and raised in the Sacramento, California, area. She has Latvian ancestry. Gulbis became intereste ...

. For courses, it has

Pebble Beach Golf Links Pebble Beach Golf Links is a public golf course located in Pebble Beach, California, U.S. Opened in 1919, it is regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, o ...

Old Course at St Andrews The Old Course at St Andrews, also known as the Old Lady or the Grand Old Lady, is considered the oldest golf course in the world. It is a public course over common land in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, and is held in trust by the St Andrews Links ...

TPC Sawgrass The Tournament Players Club Sawgrass (TPC Sawgrass) is a golf course in the southeastern United States, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, southeast of Jacksonville. The course opened in the autumn of 1980 and was the first of several Tourn ...

The K Club The Kildare Hotel and Golf Club (abbreviated The K Club) is a golf and leisure complex located in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland. It is built on the original grounds of the Straffan estate, incorporating the 1830s Straffan House. It was pre ...

, Doral Golf Resort & Spa,

Fancourt Links Fancourt is a surname. People with this surname include: * Daisy Fancourt (born 1990), British associate professor of psychobiology and epidemiology * Darrell Fancourt (1886–1953), English bass-baritone and actor * Samuel Fancourt (1678–1768), ...

, and TPC Boston.

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online'' (2010)

''Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online'' was an online streaming version of the

franchise. Players took part in single player modes or in tournaments. Tournaments were split into weekly and daily competitions, sometimes based on events then happening in the PGA Tour. For example, during the

US Open U.S. Open or US Open are open championship sporting tournaments that are hosted in the United States and in which anyone, especially amateur and professional, or American and non-American, may compete. The term may also be applied to non-sporting ev ...

, the courses that have had the US Open had a discount on points. Players chose between monthly and yearly subscriptions with unlimited access, or chose to pay for individual rounds through microtransactions. Players who didn't subscribe were still allowed to compete, although they were usually allowed to play only one or two rounds each day. On September 6, 2011, it became integrated with the ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12'' PC version. EA Sports retired ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online'' on July 6, 2013.

Notes

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:PGA Tour Electronic Arts franchises EA Sports games Golf video games Tiger Woods Video game franchises Video game franchises introduced in 1990