"World Golf Tour's goal is to show golfers that it's possible to capture a piece of the Championship experience through playing the Virtual U.S. Open online under the same conditions and guidelines as the best players on earth," said YuChiang Cheng, CEO of World Golf Tour.

One of the rising stars on the PGA TOUR, Ryuji Imada, has been using the new videogame course to practice for the real challenge this weekend.
"Since the game is created from actual pictures of the courses, it looks nearly identical to the real layout," said Imada. "Tees, fairways, greens, trees and hazards are all in the exact same places. In addition, World Golf Tour has given me access to their test servers enabling me to hit shots the same distance I do in real life, thus making my round similar to the way I would play the course in real life. This allows me to virtually play a few practice rounds at courses that I have not played before. I am able to prepare a game plan and evaluate my course management well in advance. Especially for a week like the U.S. Open when it's hot and is a mental challenge, to gain some experience about the course without having to spend 5 hours of energy is fantastic. I know what to expect and what I need to practice when I get on site to begin preparations for a tournament. It provides a tremendous advantage over those who step on the course the first day and have never seen or played it. I hope none of my fellow players catch on to this too much and negate my advantage."

In addition to the challenges of the U.S. Open's Black Course, gamers can play the famous Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Pinehurst's Course 2, and Wolf Creek. The game maker is currently traveling the world gathering new high definition data to add more famed courses to its collection. A total of eight courses will be playable by the end of this year.