The PGA Tour and MasterCard will expand support for Apple Pay at the Arnold Palmer Invitational event. Fans will be able to purchase both merchandise and concessions using Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets.
The 37th annual tournament, featuring the top five golfers in the world, is being played this week in the town of Bay Hill in Central Florida. Through a sponsorship with MasterCard and QkR!, the event supports the “latest payment technologies,” including the market leader, Apple Pay.
While the PGA Tour and MasterCard came on board with Apple Pay at the Waste Management Open in January, that event feature limited support, only accepting Apple’s mobile payments at select food and beverage concession stands.
This week’s event will feature contactless payments at all merchandise and concessions stands, greatly expanding the opportunities for golf fans to use Apple Pay.
“At API, we knew we wanted to provide a way for fans to get through concessions and back to the tournament quickly, so we took what we have been doing with our bank, retail and technology partners and brought it to Bay Hill,” said Matt Barr, group head of North America Emerging Payments at MasterCard. “Fans can tap their phones, dip their cards, or use an app to buy food and drinks—quickly and securely.”
The Arnold Palmer Invitational tees off Thursday.
