Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson helped lift PGA Tour ratings to their highest level since last June.
The final round of the WGC-CA Championship, featuring Woods’ first PGA Tour event on broadcast since his injury last year, drew a 3.4/8 final rating on NBC last Sunday — up 13% from a 3.0 last year, and the highest rating for any PGA Tour event since last June’s U.S. Open.
The 3.4 final rating was the highest of the weekend for a live sporting event, beating every college basketball telecast on CBS.
While Woods’ presence no doubt helped the ratings, it should be pointed out that both the WGC-CA Championship, and the second-highest rated PGA Tour event of the season, February’s Northern Trust Open, were won by Phil Mickelson.
So far this season, 13 PGA Tour telecasts on CBS and NBC have averaged a 1.8 rating, down 26% from a 2.4 last year. Final round coverage has averaged a 2.2, down 22% from a 2.9 last year. Final round coverage of the events won by Mickelson have averaged a 3.4 rating, 100% higher than the 1.7 for final round coverage of other PGA Tour events.
Final round ratings for PGA Tour events on broadcast.
| Date | Time | Net | Event | Winner | Rating | vs. ’08 |
| Sun., 2/1/09 | 3:00 PM | CBS | FBR Open | Perry | 1.3 | -43% |
| Sun., 2/8/09 | 3:00 PM | CBS | Buick Invitational | Watney | 2.0 | -52% |
| Sun., 2/22/09 | 3:00 PM | CBS | Northern Trust Open | Mickelson | 3.3 | 32% |
| Sun., 3/1/09 | 2:00 PM | NBC | WGC Accenture Match Play Championship | Ogilvy | 1.9 | -37% |
| Sun., 3/8/09 | 3:00 PM | NBC | Honda Classic | Yang | 1.5 | -29% |
| Sun., 3/15/09 | 3:00 PM | NBC | WGC-CA Championship | Mickelson | 3.4 | 13% |
| Average rating | 2.2 | -22% | ||||
