When Tiger Woods is involved, even mid-afternoon on a Monday can seem like prime time.
NBC drew a 7.6/20 overnight rating for the Tiger Woods/Rocco Mediate U.S. Open playoff yesterday afternoon, up 90% from the 4.0/12 for the last playoff in 2001, which featured Retlief Goosen and Mark Brooks.
The 7.6 overnight is extremely impressive considering NBC began coverage at 2:00 PM ET on a weekday. According to the Sports Business Daily, yesterday’s playoff drew the highest rating for golf on a Monday since the 1978 Phoenix Open.
The playoff caps a successful week for the U.S. Open, which drew some of its best numbers in years. Final round coverage on Sunday drew a 7.5 final rating and 12 million viewers from 3:00-9:00 PM, up 17% and 26% from a 6.4 with 9.5 million viewers last year. The 7.5 final rating is the third highest this decade.
