The official Ryder Cup 2014 app delivers live video coverage
The 2014 Ryder Cup gets underway this week with the actual matches scheduled for Friday through Sunday. The PGA of America just released Ryder Cup 2014, the official app of the competition. It is a free universal app that requires iOS 7.0 or later. Earlier I reviewed SportsFusion-the unofficial 2014 Ryder Cup news edition. The two apps offer a lot of similar information but since the PGA of America is the parent organization for the Ryder Cup matches you will find some items in its app not available to the SportsFusion app.
Both apps contain photos, videos, scoring updates, news stories, and social media connections. You will find several differences too. For example in SportsFusion, all scoring comes from the official Ryder Cup web site and users are taken there to check scoring. In Ryder Cup 2014 the PGA posts scoring directly to the app so users do not leave. We won't know which system works best until the matches begin. For social media, Ryder Cup 2014 provides a listing of the official team accounts on Twitter and also FanChat from the various social media sites. SportsFusion doesn't deliver those posting to the app but does allow users to easily upload their comments to a variety of social media outlets.
Also because of the direct connection to the PGA, Ryder Cup 2014 contains a lot more behind the scenes information on the European and USA team members and the Gleneagles golf course. Users will get bios and stats on the golfers and a hole by hole breakdown of the golf course including fly over videos with narration explaining the features and hazards on each hole. Any similar information on the SportsFusion app will have to come from the news stories included in the app but not from the app directly. I think the course information is especially helpful. Users get an aerial photo of the hole, distance and par information along with the flyover videos. That can add to your enjoyment and knowledge as you watch the matches on TV.
That brings up another big advantage to Ryder Cup 2014. Again being the official app, users will find live video and audio once the matches begin. The app features streaming video from the golf course and audio from the radio broadcast of the event. Both are big pluses if you have other things to do on the weekend besides park in front of your TV.
The SportsFusion app does have one area that I believe is an advantage. That app offers a compilation of news stories from a variety of web sources. Ryder Cup 2014's news listing come from just PGA.com and the Associated Press. So on the SportsFusion app you will get broader coverage of events leading up to the actual competition and the matches themselves.
If live video is important to you I think Ryder Cup 2014 is a clear winner. However, I suggest you get and use both apps so you get the most complete coverage. They are both free and will only be useful through this week. Then you can delete both apps.
