Torrey Pines Ratings Hit High in Tiger's Return

Tiger Woods was never in contention, but still lifted Torrey Pines ratings to a five-year high.

Final round coverage of the PGA at Torrey Pines earned a 2.6 rating and 4.1 million viewers on CBS, up 30% in ratings and 32% in viewership from last year (2.0, 3.1M) and up 73% and 78% respectively from 2016 (1.5, 2.3M).

The 2.6 rating is the highest for the tournament since 2013, when Sunday coverage had a 3.2. Woods won the tournament that year, but the final round was pushed back to a Monday.

Not coincidentally, this year was the first time since his 2013 win that Woods made the cut at Torrey Pines.

For the weekend, the telecast trailed only the NFL Pro Bowl (5.3, 8.6M) and Saturday’s Celtics-Warriors NBA game (2.8, 4.7M) as the most-watched sporting event on TV. As should be no surprise given golf’s older skew, it ranked much further down the list — ninth — in adults 18-49.

CBS bailed on the final round coverage shortly after 7 PM ET due to Grammy Awards obligations. The conclusion, which featured Jason Day in a three-man playoff, had a 1.6 and 2.7 million on Golf Channel.

On Saturday, third round action had a 2.1 (+75%) and 3.1 million (+65%). The 2.1 rating is the highest for Saturday coverage since 2008 (2.7). Excluding majors and the Ryder Cup, it was the highest rated and most-watched Saturday PGA window since the 2016 Players Championship (2.2, 3.2M).

In addition to “The Tiger Effect,” the telecast benefited from a strong college basketball lead-in and a later timeslot.

Lead-in coverage on Golf Channel had a 0.8 rating (+110%) and 1.2 million viewers (+113%) on Saturday and a 0.9 (+79%) and 1.4 million (+70%) on Sunday. Friday’s second round coverage had 766,000 viewers (+19%). The weekend increases were a marked turnaround from Thursday’s opening round, which declined 14%.