Uncategorized

Rory McIlroy’s concerns addressed as PGA Tour outshines LIV Golf in TV battle

The PGA Tour’s TV ratings are on the rise this season, with last week’s Genesis Invitational becoming the most-watched non-major in the United States in nearly a year.

An average of 3.4 million viewers tuned into CBS for the final round at Torrey Pines on Sunday, as Ludvig Aberg narrowly defeated Maverick McNealy and Scottie Scheffler to win the Tiger Woods-hosted event. This represents a five percent increase in viewership from the 2024 iteration of the tournament, which was won by Hideki Matsuyama at Riviera Country Club.

Rory McIlroy wants the game of golf to come together (Image: Getty Images)

The average viewership matched the 2023 Genesis Invitational’s audience and greatly surpassed the 2022 edition, which averaged just 2.4 million viewers. CBS reported an eight percent weekend viewership increase compared to last year’s tournament, with a peak viewership of 4.2 million on Sunday – making it the most-watched non-major since The Players 11 months ago.

According to Sports Business Journal, CBS has seen a 17 percent year-on-year viewership growth for its west coast swing, which also included the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and WM Phoenix Open. Both of these events also experienced significant growth in viewership.

Declining TV audiences have been a major concern for the PGA Tour since the LIV Golf breakaway in 2022, which divided fans and left many disillusioned with the state of the sport. Despite boasting a star-studded roster, LIV has struggled to attract viewers through the opening two events of its 2025 season.

The Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf league managed to secure a broadcasting deal with FOX Sports just before the season kicked off, but the initial viewership figures were less than stellar. A mere 12,000 viewers tuned in for the first round of the opening tournament in Riyadh earlier this month. However, there was a significant uptick for the Adelaide event last week, with an average of 114,000 viewers catching the late-night broadcast of the opening round.

Ludvig Aberg’s win at the Genesis Invitational was met with a boost to TV viewership ( Image: Getty Images)

Rory McIlroy’s warning heard

These numbers might be seen as a positive sign for the PGA Tour, especially considering world No. 3 Rory McIlroy’s past concerns about declining TV audiences. He has been vocal about the necessity for the PGA Tour and LIV to come to an agreement, which now seems more likely in the near future. “I would say the numbers on LIV aren’t great either in terms of the people tuning in,” McIlroy said at the time.

“I just think with the fighting and everything that’s went on over the past couple years, people are just getting really fatigued of it and it’s turning people off men’s professional golf, and that’s not a good thing for anyone.

“It will be really interesting to see how the major championship numbers fare compared to the other bigger events because there’s an argument to be made if the numbers are better and you’ve got all the best players in the world playing, then there’s an argument to say, ‘OK, we need to get this thing back together.’

“But on the flip side, if the numbers aren’t as good, it’s an argument to still say we need to put everyone back together because people are losing interest in the game even if they don’t want to tune in to the four major championships. Like that to me is not… That’s where I said like things need a correction and things are unsustainable.”

Related Posts

Barge captain in deadly crash given sobriety test; victim ID’d as famed TV producer’s granddaughter

The captain of a barge that plowed into a sailboat in Florida has been given a sobriety test, as it emerged that one of the two girls who…

Oprah Winfrey denies claim she kept private Hawaii road closed during tsunami evacuation

Oprah Winfrey’s spokesperson set the record straight amid speculation that the former talk show host closed her private Hawaii road during a tsunami evacuation. “As soon as we heard…

Heartbreaking vid shows giant whales washed up on Japanese beach after Russian mega quake sparks tsunami warnings

HEARTBREAKING footage shows giant whales washed up on a beach in Japan after a monster Russian earthquake sparked tsunami warnings. The magnitude 8.8 quake hit off Russia’s far eastern Kamchatka peninsula…

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝟱 (𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱)

El mundo necesita héroes, otra vez. Los Mercenarios 5 (2025) reúne a los mercenarios más elitistas del mundo para su misión más peligrosa hasta la fecha. Con la…

𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿

La leyenda regresa, más grande, más audaz y más peligrosa que nunca. En este tráiler conceptual creado por un fan, Tom Holland interpreta al intrépido joven granjero que…

𝗦𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝟮

Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario y Scott Eastwood se reúnen en esta emocionante secuela, dirigida una vez más por Brad Peyton. Cuando un terremoto colosal azota la…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *