U.S. Women’s Open ratings were nothing to celebrate, but the tournament still managed to bounce back from last year’s low.
The complete U.S. Women’s Open averaged 513,000 viewers on FOX and FS1, up 12% from last year’s record-low (459K) but down 16% from 2016 (613K).
The four-day average is the fourth-lowest on record (dating back to 1995), ahead of last year, 2015 (485K) and 2013 (502K). This year was the sixth of the past nine in which the tournament averaged fewer than 600,000 viewers.
Last Sunday’s final round coverage had a 0.6 rating and 878,000 viewers, flat in ratings and up 11% in viewership from last year (0.6, 790K) but down a third in both measures from 2016 (0.9, 1.3M).
Despite the increase, it was the second-least watched final round on record.
Compared to other women’s golf majors, Sunday’s telecast topped the final rounds of last year’s Women’s PGA Championship (840K) and Evian Championship (551K) on NBC and this year’s ANA Inspiration (437K) on Golf Channel. It was no match for last year’s final round of the Women’s British Open on NBC (1.1M).
Head-to-head, the final round was trounced by the PGA Tour Memorial Tournament on CBS (1.6, 2.3M). Last year’s tournament took place later in the year and faced weaker competition from the PGA John Deere Classic (1.1, 1.7M).
Third round action on Saturday was delayed due to rain, earning a 0.4 and 543,000 in the afternoon and a 0.5 and 750,000 in primetime. Last year’s third round coverage aired as scheduled and had a 0.5 and 653,000.
U.S. Women’s Open Average Viewership
Past two decades
