It surely would have done better without the weather delays, but Phil Mickelson‘s win at Pebble Beach held up well in the ratings.
Final round coverage of the PGA Tour Pebble Beach National Pro-Am delivered a 2.4 rating and 3.73 million viewers on CBS Sunday, up 9% in ratings and 7% in viewership from last year opposite the Olympics (2.2, 3.48M), but down 11% and 12% respectively from 2017 (2.2, 3.48M).
The CBS telecast, which included an hour-long weather delay, ended before the conclusion of play. Not surprisingly, the numbers were middling by Pebble Beach standards. The 2.4 rating is the seventh-lowest for final round coverage in the past 20 years.
Golf Channel aired the remainder of Sunday’s play, earning a 1.2 and 1.86 million for two hours of bonus coverage. It was the network’s most-watched program since last year’s Tampa Bay Championship, which featured Tiger Woods in contention.
Golf Channel also drew 918,000 for Monday’s half-hour conclusion.
On Saturday, third round action delivered a 1.9 and 2.93 million on CBS — up 27% in ratings and viewership from last year (1.5, 2.31M) and up 6% and 10% respectively from 2017 (1.8, 2.67M). It was the highest rated third round of the tournament since 2012 (2.6).
Lead-in coverage on Golf Channel delivered a 0.6 (-3%) and 946,000 (-1%) on Saturday and a 0.6 (-24%) and 963,000 (-25%) on Sunday.
For the weekend, Sunday’s CBS coverage ranked second among all sporting events, behind only the competing Lakers-Sixers NBA game on ABC (2.4, 3.86M).
