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Scottie Scheffler arrives at PGA Championship after birth of son

L OUISVILLE, Ky. -- Masters champion Scottie Scheffler arrived at Valhalla on Monday for the PGA Championship and received congratulations at every turn, none related to any of his victories.

He's the father of a newborn boy.

Scheffler said he and his wife named the baby Bennett. He was born May 8.

Jon Rahm , who has two sons, was among the first to greet Scheffler on the putting green, gave him a hug and said, "Have you had much sleep?"

Scheffler has not played since winning the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town a week after he won his second Masters green jacket. He comes into the second major of the year having won four of his past five tournaments -- the exception was a runner-up finish at the Houston Open.

He remains the betting favorite, even with Rory McIlroy coming off two straight victories (one of them a team event with Shane Lowry ) and defending champion Brooks Koepka coming off his first victory of the year at LIV Golf Singapore.

McIlroy won the PGA Championship at Valhalla in 2014, the last time he won a major. Koepka tied for 15th in 2014, a year before he joined the PGA Tour.

Scheffler is trying to become the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 -- and only the fifth player since 1960 -- to win the first two majors of the year.

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Report: Scottie Scheffler to play in PGA Championship following birth of child

Congrats to Scottie and Meredith Scheffler on the birth of their first child . With the new baby delivered safe and sound, the world’s No. 1 player should be competing next week at the PGA Championship.

Sports Illustrated golf writer Bob Harig reported this news, Saturday, although with a caveat.

Harig shared the news on X Saturday afternoon. He wrote “there’s been nothing official from Scottie Scheffler , his team or the Tour… But word is he will be at Valhalla for the PGA next week after winning four of his last five tournaments, including the Masters. He is currently on the Tuesday interview schedule for 3:30 p.m.” Harig also used the hahtag #babyborn

There's been nothing official from Scottie Scheffler, his team or the Tour… But word is he will be at Valhalla for the PGA next week after winning four of his last five tournaments, including the Masters. He is currently on the Tuesday interview schedule for 3:30 p.m. #babyborn — Bob Harig (@BobHarig) May 11, 2024

Scottie Scheffler took Tour break as wife’s due date approached

The Schefflers have been on baby watch for weeks . Scottie Scheffler said before The Masters started that if his wife went into labor, he’d abandon the prestigious golf tournament and head back to Dallas. He ended up sticking around Augusta National to win his second Masters title and the green jacket that goes with it.

Meredith’s due date was late April. Scheffler took a break from the Tour to await the imminent birth.

Before the break, Scheffler had won four of his last five tournaments. He has until the end of business, Tuesday, to confirm his entry into the PGA, golf’s second major of the season. The tournament starts next Thursday and will be played at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.

Golf Channel published a list of players who will be doing interviews in advance of the tournament. And Scottie Scheffler’s name is right there with nine other players who are scheduled to speak to the media throughout the day on Tuesday.

This article first appeared on 5 GOATs and was syndicated with permission.

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Meredith and scottie scheffler welcome their first child to the world, share this article.

LOUISVILLE — Af ter answering questions for the better part of April on the pending birth of his first child, Scottie Scheffler officially became a father. He and wife have Meredith welcomed son Bennett to the world last week.

“It’s a pretty amazing feeling,” Scheffler told Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis. “It was fun times at the Scheffler home, for sure.”

The world No. 1 won the Masters and RBC Heritage back-to-back in April before shutting it down and heading home to Dallas as to await the birth of their first child. While Scheffler hasn’t announced publicly the date of the birth, he was on site at Valhalla Golf Club on Monday just as PGA Championship week is getting underway with a field of 156 golfers  gathering for the season’s second major.

Scheffler said he told his father he didn’t want to leave, but he knew he had to honor his commitment to play this week.

“I’m called to come out here to do things to the best of my ability and so showing up this week especially with the forecast the next couple of days (for rain) I knew I had to be here today to get some practice in,” he said.

Making his way to the range early Monday afternoon, Scheffler stopped on the practice green for a few minutes to chat with Jon Rahm, a former World No. 1, a fellow Masters champion, and most importantly, a fellow member of Scheffler’s newest club. Rahm is a father to two young sons, Kepa and Eneko, and he and his wife, Kelly, announced in March that a third child is on the way.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Scottie Scheffler (@scottie.scheffler)

PGA pool reporter Jeff Babineau noted that on his way to sign a few autographs, Rahm was asked if he had given Scheffler any good tips on first-time fatherhood. Rahm laughed. “I’m sure right now, he welcomes talking about anything but golf,” he said.

Scheffler, who skipped the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in his hometown of Dallas and withdrew from last week’s Wells Fargo Championship, played the back nine with Sam Burns and Wyndham Clark. Scheffler is expected to speak to the media on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. ET.

Speaking after winning the Masters for the second time, Scheffler said during his news conference, “What I’m looking forward to most, I think, about being a parent is being able to love my child like my parents loved me.”

“When it comes to having a kid, every single person says that it changes your life and it’s the most special thing in the world,” he added. “Marriage has been such a tremendous aspect of my life, I cannot even imagine what being a parent is going to be like.”

Scottie Scheffler walks the first fairway with his wife, Meredith, during the Par 3 Contest ahead of the 2023 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Network)

Now that wait is over and the real work begins.

Asked how long it would take before he put it a plastic club in his child’s hand, Scheffler said, “You know, it’s funny. I watch my nephew a lot. My older sister had her first child, and he turns two in June. Some people want to be like their parents and some people don’t want to be like their parents, and Hayes is a kid that wants to be just like his dad, and his dad loves grass, and I got a video from my sister the other day of Hayes following his dad around in the backyard. His dad was mowing the lawn, and Hayes was following him with his plastic lawn mower. And Andrew loves to play golf; Hayes loves to play golf.

“What’s my kid going to like? Who the heck knows. Who knows what they will pick up on. But whatever it is, you know, I’m just, I just want to be there to support him. Doesn’t matter what they are doing.”

Congratulations to the Schefflers.

Scottie Scheffler arrived at the PGA Championship after the birth of his son. The new dad spoke with Todd Lewis ( @ToddLewisGC ). pic.twitter.com/vlOmOQVQt3 — Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 14, 2024

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Points and payouts: Rory McIlroy earns $3.6 million, 700 FedExCup points at Wells Fargo Championship

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The imminent birth of his first child notwithstanding, Scottie Scheffler isn’t the only tournament favorite who delivers, baby. In his absence, Rory McIlroy prevailed at the Wells Fargo Championship as the odds-on man to beat at just +750 at BetMGM pre-tournament.

Of course, McIlroy also deserves that kind of respect. He’s done it time and again – and again and yet again – at Quail Hollow Club, this latest version by five strokes at 17-under 267.

Quail Hollow has been both a memorable checkpoint and a personal playground throughout McIlroy’s career. It was at the challenging track in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2010 when he recorded his breakthrough victory on the PGA TOUR, doing so by four shots. He rose to the title again in 2015 by seven, and then once more in 2021 by a mere single swing.

Sunday’s fourth title goes into the books as the 26th in his career comprised of 247 starts as a professional. With it, the 35-year-old banks 700 FedExCup points and $3.6 million. He’s already exempt into everything for numerous achievements, including membership status as a winner to its maximum five-year extension through 2029.

McIlroy will head to the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. He was the winner of the same major the last time that Valhalla hosted in 2014. It’s also the last time he won a major. He arrived that week having won his most recent two tournaments … just as he will again this year.

Xander Schauffele’s bid for a wire-to-wire title at Quail Hollow will have to wait for another edition. He settled for a Sunday 71 and runner-up honors in no-man’s land. In addition to the five-shot deficit to McIlroy, Schauffele was three lower than the rest of the field. Lo and behold, he also was the second-shortest to win at +1000.

Byeong Hun An took third alone, also with plenty of elbow room over T4, as he was three strokes better than Jason Day and Sungjae Kim. All three were +4500 to win.

Defending champion Wyndham Clark was third-shortest at +1400 and finished T47, two dozen strokes back of McIlroy.

For resources to overcome a gambling problem, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER today.

Rob Bolton is a Golfbet columnist for the PGA TOUR. The Chicagoland native has been playing fantasy golf since 1994, so he was just waiting for the Internet to catch up with him. Follow Rob Bolton on Twitter .

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Scottie Scheffler and wife Meredith’s bundle of joy has arrived.

The couple welcomed their first child, just weeks after Scheffler claimed his second Masters victory in three years.

Sports Illustrated’s Bob Harig tweeted Saturday that the baby was born and Scheffler will play in this week’s PGA Championship — the second major of the season.

“There’s been nothing official from Scottie Scheffler, his team or the Tour… But word is he will be at Valhalla for the PGA next week after winning four of his last five tournaments, including the Masters. He is currently on the Tuesday interview schedule for 3:30 p.m. #babyborn,” Harig wrote over the weekend.

Harig confirmed in a later tweet that Meredith did give birth, though details remain scarce.

Scheffler will now be the favorite at Valhalla (+400, FanDuel ) with Rory McIlroy close behind (+700) as he comes in off back-to-back wins following Sunday’s triumph at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Baby Scheffler became a storyline during Masters week, when it was reported Scheffler, 27, would withdraw from the tournament if Meredith went into labor.

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Scheffler not only won at Augusta, but followed it up with a triumph at the RBC Heritage Open in South Carolina.

The world No. 1 told reporters he’d be “ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

“As far as her going into labor, I wouldn’t say I’m very concerned, we haven’t seen any of the early signs, but pregnancy is weird and it can happen at any time. But, yeah, open lines of communication and she can get ahold of me if she needs to,” Scheffler said after he shot a six-under 66 to open the 2024 Masters.

When asked about becoming a parent, Scheffler – who wed Meredith in 2020 — offered a candid response.

“People have asked us how our preparation is going for the baby and it’s like, well, I feel like we are a little underprepared. The nursery isn’t quite ready and we’ve had some issues at our house the last few weeks. I think that’s the exciting part. I think we are definitely underprepared to be parents,”  he said .

Upon collecting his second green jacket at Augusta National earlier this month, when he shot a final-round 68 to finish the week at 11-under par, Scheffler delivered a sweet message to Meredith , who watched the tournament from home.

“I’ll be home as quick as I can,” the two-time major champion said,  according to Golf.com . “I love you and I’m coming home.”

Meredith has long been a staple at tournaments and was present for Scheffler’s first Masters win in 2022.

She was by his side in March, when he won the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

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Childish Gambino Announces Massive 2024 Tour

By Jazz Monroe

Childish Gambino has announced a tour of North America, Europe, and Australasia, billed as the New World Tour. Donald Glover will take Amaarae and Willow along for select dates. The stint marks his first tour since 2019, and follows the release last night of Atavista , which he’s called “the finished version” of his 2020 record, 3.15.20 . Find the tour dates below.

The last time Childish Gambino went on tour, he had just dropped the internet-breaking single “ This Is America ” and his Summer Pack EP , off the back of his 2016 album, “Awaken, My Love!” That year, he headlined Coachella and dropped Guava Island , his movie with Rihanna.

A lot has happened since then, most of it on screen. He ended his critically acclaimed TV show Atlanta with a fourth season , put pop fandom under a microscope with the limited series Swarm , and rebooted the 2005 movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith as a show in which he stars opposite Maya Erskine. He also shifted Lando , his upcoming Star Wars project, from a Disney+ series to a Lucasfilm movie.

In March 2020, Glover uploaded an unfinished studio album to the website donaldgloverpresents.com before taking it down. It reappeared on streaming services a week later under the name 3.15.20 , and has now been touched up and rereleased as Atavista . Glover shared a video for “Little Foot Big Foot,” featuring Young Nudy , to go along with the news.

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Childish Gambino:

08-11 Oklahoma City, OK - Paycom Center * 08-12 Kansas City, MO - T-Mobile Center * 08-14 Milwaukee, WI - Fiserv Forum * 08-15 Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center * 08-17 Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena * 08-18 Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena * 08-20 Pittsburgh, PA - PPG Paints Arena * 08-21 Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center * 08-23 Boston, MA - TD Garden * 08-24 Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Arena * 08-26 Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center * 08-27 Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center * 08-29 Washington, D.C. - Capital One Arena * 08-30 Raleigh, NC - PNC Arena * 09-01 Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena * 09-02 Atlanta, GA - State Farm Arena * 09-04 Tampa, FL - Amalie Arena * 09-05 Sunrise, FL - Amerant Bank Arena * 09-07 New Orleans, LA - Smoothie King Center * 09-08 Houston, TX - Toyota Center * 09-10 Austin, TX - Moody Center * 09-11 Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center * 09-13 Denver, CO - Ball Arena * 09-14 Salt Lake City, UT - Delta Center * 09-16 Phoenix, AZ - Footprint Center * 09-18 Los Angeles, CA - Crypto.com Arena * 09-19 Los Angeles, CA - Crypto.com Arena * 09-21 San Francisco, CA - Chase Center * 09-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Rogers Arena * 09-24 Portland, OR - Moda Center * 09-25 Seattle, WA - Climate Pledge Arena * 09-27 Calgary, Alberta - Scotiabank Saddledome * 09-29 Edmonton, Alberta - Rogers Place * 10-02 Saint Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center * 10-03 Chicago, IL - United Center * 10-31 Lyon, France - LDLC Arena # 11-02 Milan, Italy - Unipol Forum # 11-04 Cologne, Germany - Lanxess Arena # 11-06 Hamburg, Germany - Barclays Arena # 11-08 Oslo, Norway - Oslo Spektrum # 11-10 Copenhagen, Denmark - Royal Arena # 11-12 Prague, Czechia - O2 Arena # 11-13 Berlin, Germany - Uber Arena # 11-19 Paris, France - Accor Arena # 11-21 Munich, Germany - Olympiahalle # 11-23 Brussels, Belgium - ING Arena # 11-24 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Ziggo Dome # 11-26 Manchester, England - AO Arena # 11-28 Glasgow, Scotland - OVO Hydro # 11-30 London, England - The O2 # 12-01 London, England - The O2 # 12-03 Birmingham, England - Utilita Arena # 12-05 Dublin, Ireland - 3Arena # 01-28 Auckland, New Zealand -Spark Arena # 02-01 Brisbane, Australia - Brisbane Entertainment Centre # 02-04 Sydney, Australia - Qudos Bank Arena # 02-07 Melbourne, Australia - Rod Laver Arena # 02-11 Perth, Australia - RAC Arena #

* with Willow # with Amaarae

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Grupo Frontera Announces Jugando A Que No Pasa Nada Tour: Here Are the Dates

The Live Nation-produced stint kicks off in Las Vegas.

By Griselda Flores

Griselda Flores

Senior Editor, Latin

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Just days after releasing sophomore studio album Jugando A Que No Pasa Nada , Grupo Frontera has unveiled dates for its upcoming tour, set to kick off Aug. 2 in Las Vegas.

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All the u.s. tours from latin artists announced for 2024 (updating).

Besides releasing the new album — which includes collabs with acts such as Nicki Nicole, Maluma and Morat — Frontera recently nabbed its eighth No. 1 on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart thanks to the Christian Nodal-assisted “Ya Pedo Quien Sabe.”

The Jugando A Que No Pasa Nada U.S. Tour general onsale will begin Friday, May 17, at 10 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com .

• Aug. 2 — Las Vegas — T-Mobile Arena
• Aug. 3 — Phoenix — Footprint Center
• Aug 4 — El Paso, Texas — Don Haskins Center
• Aug. 9 — Dallas — American Airlines Center
• Aug. 10 — Houston — Toyota Center
• Aug. 15 — Laredo, Texas — Sames Auto Arena
• Aug. 16 — Austin — Moody Center
• Aug. 17 — San Antonio — Frost Bank Center
• Aug. 18 — Oklahoma City — Paycom Center
• Aug. 21 — Nashville — Bridgestone Arena
• Aug. 22 — Atlanta — State Farm Arena
• Aug. 24 — Orlando, Fla. — Kia Center
• Aug. 25 — Sunrise, Fla. — Amerant Bank Arena
• Aug. 27 — Greensboro, N.C. — Greensboro Coliseum
• Aug. 29 — Brooklyn, N.Y. — Barclays Center
• Aug. 31 — Washington, D.C. — Capital One Arena
• Sept. 4 — Montreal, Quebec — Place Bell (Canda_
• Sept. 7 — Chicago — Allstate Arena
• Sept. 8 — Milwaukee — Fiserv Forum
• Sept. 11 — Kansas City, Mo. — T-Mobile Center
• Sept. 13 — Salt Lake City — Maverik Center
• Sept. 15 — Tacoma, Wash. — Tacoma Dome
• Sept. 20 — Los Angeles– Intuit Dome
• Sept. 22 — San Francisco — Chase Center
• Sept. 26 — Sacramento, Calif. — Golden 1 Center
• Sept. 27 — Fresno, Calif. — Save Mart Center
• Oct. 2 — San Diego — Viejas Arena
• Oct. 5 — Edinburg, Texas — Bert Ogden Arena
• Oct. 24 — San Luis Potosí — El Domo (Mexico)
• Oct. 26 — León, Guanajuato — Mega Velaria (Mexico)
• Oct. 31 — Torreón, Coahuila — Coliseo Centenario (Mexico)
• Nov. 2 — Guadalajara, Jalisco — Arena VFG (Mexico)
• Nov. 7 — Monterrey, Nuevo León — Arena Monterrey (Mexico)
• Nov. 9 — Tijuana, Baja California — Plaza de Toros (Mexico)
• Nov. 15 — Mexico City — Palacio de los Depoartes (Mexico)
• Nov. 20 — Mérida, Yucatan — Foro GNP Seguros (Mexico)
• Nov. 22 — Puebla — Auditorio GNP Seguros (Mexico)
• Nov. 23 — Veracruz — WTC (Mexico)

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Dunne resigns PGA's Tour policy board, effective immediately

Take a closer look at the numbers behind top-ranked golfers Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler ahead of the PGA Championship. (0:58)

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Jimmy Dunne, who last year helped negotiate the PGA Tour's controversial framework agreement with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, resigned from the tour's policy board on Monday.

In Dunne's resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, Dunne wrote that "no meaningful progress has been made towards a transaction with PIF" and that "my vote and my role is utterly superfluous" now that player directors outnumber independent directors on the policy board. Dunne's resignation was effective immediately.

"It is crucial for the Board to avoid letting yesterday's differences interfere with today's decisions, especially when they influence future opportunities for the tour," Dunne wrote. "Unifying professional golf is paramount to restoring fan interest and repairing wounds left from a fractured game. I have tried my best to move all minds in that direction."

Along with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, Dunne and policy board chairman Ed Herlihy secretly negotiated the framework agreement with the PIF, which is financing the rival LIV Golf League. Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan announced the deal on June 6. Most PGA Tour players -- including some player directors -- were unaware of the deal until it was announced on TV.

The framework agreement expired Dec. 31, but the sides have continued to try to negotiate a deal. Monahan and player directors, including Tiger Woods , met with Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas on March 18.

At the Masters in April, Woods said the meeting was productive.

"I don't know if we're closer, but certainly we're headed in the right direction," Woods said. "That was a very positive meeting, and I think both sides came away from the meeting feeling positive."

The PGA Tour did strike a deal with Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of billionaire American sports team owners and others, to invest up to $3 billion into PGA Tour Enterprises, a new for-profit entity.

In a memo, obtained by ESPN Monday night, sent to Tour golfers, Monahan addressed the developments, saying "I'd like to thank Jimmy for his steadfast service to this organization since he joined the Board in January 2023, not to mention his countless contributions to the game of golf that span decades."

Monahan, in the memo, also added "we continue to make meaningful progress behind the scenes in our negotiations toward a potential agreement with the PIF. Our goal remains to deliver the best possible outcome for the PGA Tour, our players, partners, tournaments and fans," before concluding that "out of respect for the PGA Championship, we will not be making any additional public comments on this matter."

Dunne, a Wall Street dealmaker, testified about the tour's potential deal with the Saudis in front of the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on July 11. Monahan was taking a leave of absence for health reasons at the time of the hearing.

Dunne suggested in his resignation letter on Monday that he had been cut out of the negotiations with the Saudis. His resignation comes less than a week after PGA Tour star Rory McIlroy told reporters that certain people on the policy board were "uncomfortable" with him returning to the board .

McIlroy resigned from the policy board in November. Player director Webb Simpson was prepared to step down -- if McIlroy replaced him to help get a deal done with the Saudis.

Along with Woods and Simpson, the player directors are Patrick Cantlay , Jordan Spieth , Adam Scott and Peter Malnati . Former tour member Joe Ogilvie is a board liaison.

On Thursday, the tour announced that former Valero Energy Corp. CEO Joseph W. Gorder had been elected to serve as the inaugural chairman of PGA Tour Enterprises' board of directors and that McIlroy would be part of a transaction committee that would handle the tour's negotiations with the PIF.

Gorder, now executive chairman of Valero Energy's board, also will serve on the transaction committee, along with Fenway Sports Group founder and principal owner John W. Henry, Monahan, Scott, Woods, McIlroy and Ogilvie.

Dunne and Herlihy were left off the transaction committee.

"Players have lost trust in the board because of the backdoor deals and the governance," one PGA Tour member, not authorized to formally speak on the situation, told ESPN on Monday. "The more players are getting involved, the more they realize things aren't being run like they want -- from the top down. The players have told the rest of the board they want to run it and don't trust the board. When you lose faith in the head guy, none of the players are going to pay attention anymore."

Dunne did not respond to ESPN's request for comment.

AI Impact Tour: How companies are going from ideation to real-world implementation

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The VentureBeat AI Impact tour made a stop in San Francisco, and this time the conversations dove into the real world applications of generative AI, and what it actually takes to deploy a gen AI initiative. Matt Marshall, CEO of VentureBeat, pushed past the hype to get serious about gen AI deployment with keynote speaker Ed Anuff, DataStax’s chief product officer, as well as Nicole Kaufman, chief transformation officer at Genesis Health and Tisson Matthew, CEO of Skypoint.

The conversation is crucial as enterprises graduate from the experimental, ideation phase that characterized the last year of generative AI excitement. They’re moving beyond testing out the possibilities of ChatGPT and natural language interfaces in general, and starting to answer the important question:  how do we take that power and integrate it with our own business-critical data — and then how do you put it into production?

“What we’re seeing is an AI maturity model emerging that shows that companies are moving from one-off projects that are primarily about getting a few quick wins and educating the company about the potential,” Anuff said. “You are seeing critical AI business initiatives where typically there’s a business champion going and saying, how do we deploy AI in a critical, high-visibility, high-impact way? That usually takes a little bit more time, but the payoffs are there and those are where the transformative aspects will happen.”

Gen AI is useful for a large number of use cases, spanning from back office to front office, to a public website, to mobile. And organizations may still be using terms like “chatbots” or “conversational interface,” but at the end of the what they’re building is a knowledge app — figuring out how to retrieve knowledge interactively in a situation-appropriate setting. The question becomes whether to do it in-house, or use one of the increasing number of off-the-shelf products.

Pre-production considerations

For applications like customer support or financial analysis, many companies want to leverage gen AI to set up an application that can generate results from internal data or reports, Anuff said.

“Those types of applications, depending on how much data you have, depending on the nature of the customized interface, you may use something that’s off-the-shelf,” he said. “There are solutions from Amazon and others that simply provide you with a way to upload a bunch of documents and have the chatbot respond against. And that’s a very good way of getting an out-of-the-box experience in a very short amount of time.”

But as you move from back office, small teams applications to addressing use cases that are critical to your core business activities, especially those that are external-facing, off-the-shelf no longer works, such as in use cases that require a lot of customized data curation. Anuff pointed to healthcare applications, connecting the gen AI interface to data sources so it can respond in real time as information changes or is updated — such as patient readings in a hospital setting, and so on. Anuff also spoke about the AI agents many Asia-Pac financial institutions are deploying, with chat financial planning directly accessible from financial statements.

“That’s not something you get out-of-the-box,” he said. “That is a custom bespoke AI RAG (retrieval augmented generation) application that is against your core data assets. if you’re a HomeDepot or Best Buy, you don’t build your website on WIX. You’ve got thousands of web engineers that are building a custom tailored experience because it’s core to your brand and your core business activities.”

Calculating readiness and cost

As enterprises move past the ideation stage they start to run into two primary issues, Anuff said.

“First is relevancy, which for many of us dealing with data is somewhat of a new parameter and a new measure, which is just how appropriate are these responses?” he explained. “A lot of it is just relevancy and retrieval issues, inefficiencies or just retrieving the wrong content. And a lot of companies struggle with that. That ends up going and forcing you to rethink in many cases your entire data architecture.”

And that, in large part, impacts the second piece, which is cost. It’s already expensive to find a way to surface relevant and clean results — next you need to determine how much more production will cost.

“As we talk with folks, that’s a really good way of calibrating realistically how close they are to production,” he explained. “If people are still at the stage where they’re struggling with relevancy, we know that they’ve made it past the initial architecture pieces. On the other hand, the production costs, these things do tend to go hand in hand. These are the two big bookends.”

Hallucinations, data and the importance of RAG

The term “hallucinations” gets used whenever a response turns up that seems wrong. It’s good as a colloquial term, but not all bugs and lack of relevance from an AI system are, in fact, hallucination — it could in fact simply be an error in the training set. Hallucinations happen when an LLM uses its training data as a launch pad to start making assumptions and speculations, and responses start to get a bit fuzzy. But there are ways around that, Anuff said, and part of that comes from RAG.

RAG is a natural language processing (NLP) process that merges AI based on knowledge retrieval with generative AI. RAG can also process and consolidate data from an internal knowledge base to return answers that are context-aware, in natural language, rather than just summarizing.

“[A large language] model is good for two things. One, it has an amazing language factor in terms of understanding what you said and what you meant,” Anuff said. “The second piece is it is also a knowledge base. How much of its own knowledge it uses is something that the programmer decides. You tell the model, limit your response that you generate to this information I provided as much as possible. You’re doing something called grounding. And what that means is that the chances of hallucination are reduced significantly because the model is not running off on a tangent. It’s essentially using the language faculty of the model to reorganize the content that it already had. This is why RAG and the variance of RAG has become such a powerful piece for reducing hallucinations.”

The second and more important reason RAG is critical is because it’s how you get your real-time company data accurately, safely and securely into the model at the time of inference, he added.

“There are other techniques of getting your data in there, but they’re not safe, they’re not real-time, they’re not secure,” he said. “So that’s why you are going to see this model database coupling for a long time to come, whether we call it RAG or not.”

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PGA Championship 2024: Scottie Scheffler arrives at Valhalla after birth of son

Ross Kinnaird

LOUISVILLE — Scottie Scheffler arrived to the PGA Championship on Monday as the reigning Masters champ … and as a new father.

Scheffler, the World No. 1 and PGA Championship favorite, missed last week’s Wells Fargo Championship, albeit for a good reason, as he and his wife Meredith were expecting the birth of their first child. The baby was born May 8, a boy they named Bennett.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Scottie Scheffler (@scottie.scheffler)

Scheffler was spotted at Valhalla’s practice facilities early Monday afternoon, receiving plenty of congratulations from fellow players. Scheffler is expected to speak with the media on Tuesday.

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Scheffler enters the PGA Championship as winner of four of his last five starts, highlighted by his second Masters title and becoming the first player to successfully win the Players Championship in back-to-back years. The two other victories weren’t too shabby either, as both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and RBC Heritage are signature events on the PGA Tour.

The Texan has three top-10 finishes in four career PGA Championship starts, including a T-2 at last year’s PGA, finishing two shots behind Brooks Koepka.

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