With Tiger Woods missing the cut and Brooks Koepka dominating the field, PGA Championship ratings sank double-digits in the metered markets.
Sunday’s final round of the PGA Championship delivered a 3.9 overnight rating on CBS, down 36% from last year, when Woods finished second (6.1), but up 8% from 2017 (3.6). Prior to this year, the event took place in the month of August.
The 3.9 overnight is tied as the third-lowest for final round coverage of the event since at least 1995. Only 2017 and 2008 (3.0) rank lower.
Koepka’s second-straight PGA Championship victory peaked at a 5.4 from 6:30-6:45 PM ET, down 35% from last year’s peak of 8.3 (7-7:15 PM), but up 8% from the 2017 peak of 5.0 (7-7:15).
For the weekend, Sunday’s final round trailed both NBA conference final games — Warriors-Blazers on ESPN Saturday (5.4) and Raptors-Bucks on TNT Sunday (4.5) — as well as The Preakness Stakes on NBC (4.3).
Of the five majors over the past calendar year, only last year’s U.S. Open posted a lower final round overnight than this year’s PGA Championship. It had a 3.6. The final round of last year’s British Open had a 5.0; last month’s final round of the Masters — won by Woods — had a 7.7.
According to Sports Business Daily, Ft. Myers-Naples led all markets with an 8.0 rating — down 29% from last year, when it ranked second (11.2). Minneapolis-St. Paul ranked second this year (7.1), followed by West Palm Beach, Fla., in third (6.4).
Third round action on Saturday pulled a 2.7 overnight, down 27% from last year (3.7), but up 13% from 2017 (2.4). Excluding rainouts, the 2.7 is tied as the third-lowest for Saturday coverage of the event since at least ’95, ahead of only 2017 and 2011 (2.6).
[Numbers from Sports Business Daily 5.20]
