The PGA Tour’s flagship event got underway in earnest on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass as The Players Championship hit our screens.

The Players Championship is one of the best events to watch on television due to the brilliantly designed holes and the drama that they create.

Over the past 50 years or so, we have seen some of the most enthralling championships played out around TPC Sawgrass.

The PGA Tour always give The Players the biggest billing possible.

However, it took everyone by surprise when the PGA Tour gave The Players a ‘major’ tagline one month before the tournament began.

Brian Rolapp has since backtracked on that and admitted that perhaps they went slightly overboard with that billing.

In spite of that, it must be said that The Players is a terrific championship in its own right – arguably the fifth biggest and most prestigious in the game.

The tournament almost always delivers real cinema for golf fans the world over. However, there was one big problem with the coverage on day on at Sawgrass, and it ruined my viewing experience.

PGA Tour made a mistake at The Players that ruined my viewing experience

Many of the best golfers in the world gathered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on Thursday to compete for one of the game’s most important trophies.

There was some special golf on display despite the incredibly challenging conditions.

Sepp Straka, Maverick McNealy and Lee Hodges lead the way after day one, after shooting superb rounds of 67.

Pete Dye’s masterpiece is in superb condition this week and the PGA Tour have clearly made a decision to set the course up as difficult as possible.

And while I enjoyed much of the golf produced by the PGA Tour’s best, there was one thing that genuinely ruined my viewing experience.

The PGA Tour recently added a new innovation to their coverage. The ‘smart tracer’ is used on certain drives to inform the viewer whether a player has hit the fairway or missed the short grass.

If the ball is heading straight down the middle, the tracer line will turn green. If it’s missing the fairway it will switch to red, while an amber signal is provided if it is too tight to call.

This is one of the worst so-called ‘innovations’ the PGA Tour have come up with over the past two decades.

While the implementation of TrackMan technology has completely transformed the game for fans watching on television, smart tracer certainly has not been additive to the coverage.

PGA Tour need to get rid of smart tracer technology immediately

Part of the thrill of watching golf on television is the mystery of wondering where a player’s ball will end up while it’s in the air.

Will it get a lucky bounce and stay on the fairway? Will it take a firm bounce and roll into deep rough or a fairway bunker?

That intrigue is now completely gone due to the use of the smart tracer.

The PGA Tour first debuted the smart tracer technology back in June at the Canadian Open.

Many golf fans took to social to share their disapproval then, and surely nothing has changed now.

Watching live sport is all about the thrill and anticipation of what will happen next.

When we, as fans, are informed of what is about to happen, that titillation is taken from us. The PGA Tour have to fix that immediately.

Maybe I’m in the minority, but how does finding out where a player’s ball is going to finish mid-flight make the viewing experience more enjoyable?

I just can’t see it.