Golf ratings are on a heater the last two weeks.
After Rory McIlroy’s Masters victory produced an eye-popping viewership figure last week, Justin Thomas breaking his winless drought and capturing the RBC Heritage in a playoff Sunday had another stellar figure for CBS and the PGA Tour.
The tally: 4.36 million people tuned in to the final round at Harbour Town Golf Links, which ended in a playoff with Thomas burying a birdie putt to beat Andrew Novak. The number is a 103 percent increase over 2024, which had a weather delay during the final round and finished Monday. The figure is up 5 percent from Matt Fitzpatrick’s playoff win over Jordan Spieth in 2023, which saw 4.15 million viewers.
Perhaps more impressive is how good that final-round number is.
The 4.36 million figure makes it the largest for an RBC final round since 2002. For the weekend, CBS averaged 3.3 million viewers, up from 62 percent in 2024, per Josh Carpenter with Sports Business Journal. Carpenter also noted the early-round coverage on Golf Channel drew 536K viewers, a record for the event.
2024 was not a strong year for golf ratings, but the trend this year has been a rebound closer to what figures have been in the past, or in the case of the last two weeks, some of the highest totals in recent years.
Will the trend continue as the season progresses? Only time will tell.
Read the full article here