Tiger Woods was in the field, if not in contention, but ratings still declined for the first event in the PGA Tour playoffs.
Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Northern Trust, the first event of the PGA Tour playoffs, earned a 1.9 rating and 2.75 million viewers on CBS Sunday — down 10% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (2.1, 3.14M) but up a tick and 5% respectively from 2016 (1.8, 2.63M).
Of Woods’ 28 rounds on broadcast television this season, it was just the second to post a decline. The final round of The Memorial also declined in June, but most of that telecast aired on tape delay.
It was also the second-least watched final round to feature Woods this season, again ahead of The Memorial. Woods was never in contention at The Northern Trust, finishing in a tie for 40th. The last time he played the event, 2015, final round coverage had a 2.3 and 3.4 million.
Sunday’s decline was an exception in an otherwise strong tournament. The five other windows on CBS and Golf Channel each hit multi-year highs, including Golf Channel’s lead-in coverage earlier in the day — which had a 0.7 (+35%) and 955,000 (+30%), the tournament’s largest audience on cable since 2013.
Saturday’s third round posted a 1.4 (flat) and 2.06 million (+1%) on CBS, marking the largest third round audience for the tournament since 2015. The Golf Channel lead-in had a 0.6 and 843,000 (both +23%), its top third round audience since 2013.
As previously reported, Thursday coverage was the most-watched in three years and Friday the most-watched in five.
The Northern Trust was the final PGA Tour event on CBS this season. With Woods’ return to relevance leading a resurgence in golf ratings, CBS averaged 2.46 million viewers for PGA Tour windows this season — up 12% from last year and the highest since 2015.
[Numbers from Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 8.28; CBS Sports PR/Twitter 8.28]
