Tiger Woods‘ first PGA Tour victory in five years delivered the highest Tour Championship overnight in at least 20.
Sunday’s final round of the Tour Championship, the final event of the PGA Tour season, earned a 4.4 overnight rating on NBC — up 193% from last year (1.5), up 132% from 2016 (1.9) and the highest for the tournament in at least 20 years. The previous high was a 4.3 for Woods’ 1999 win.
The 4.4 is also the highest ever for a PGA Tour playoff telecast, topping the previous mark of 4.0 for the final round of the 2007 Boston event.
Woods’ win peaked at a 7.2 from 5:30-6 PM ET, the third-highest peak rating of the season behind the Masters (11.0) and PGA Championship (8.3) on CBS. The telecast averaged a 5.2 from 3 PM ET through the conclusion.
Versus Woods’ previous PGA Tour win, at the 2013 Bridgestone Invitational, overnights increased 16% from a 3.8. Compared to his previous win at the Tour Championship, overnights increased a third from his 2007 victory (3.3).
Excluding the Masters, the 4.4 ranks fourth among all golf telecasts in 2018 behind the final rounds of the PGA Championship (6.1), Tampa Bay (5.1) and the British Open (5.0). Woods was in contention at all three tournaments. Keep in mind none of those telecasts faced NFL competition.
For the weekend, Sunday’s final round topped all non-NFL sporting events, ranking comfortably ahead of the second-place finisher — Saturday’s Alabama-Texas A&M college football game on CBS (3.5).
Highest 2018 PGA Tour Ratings, Metered Markets
[Numbers from NBC]
