Masters TV Ratings Mark 5-Year High For Golf With PGA Tour-LIV Showdown

The final round of this year’s Masters Tournament was the most-watched golf telecast in five years, boosted by a Sunday showdown between Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka – and perhaps just as notably, the PGA Tour vs LIV.

Is it a sign of things to come at the other majors?

The final round coverage on CBS averaged more than 12 million viewers, a 19% lift over the 2021 Masters, with Rahm pulling away for a four-shot victory over Koepka and Phil Mickelson, who were among 18 LIV golfers in the field. The Spaniard overcame a two-shot entering the final round to claim his second major title and earn $3.2 million, pushing his winnings to almost $13.3 million this season.

With the weather-delayed third round finishing ahead of the final round coverage, Sunday’s presentation on CBS totaled almost 16.3 million viewers in combined average viewership. The final round was the most watched golf event on any network since the 2018 Masters, when Patrick Reed held off charges from Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth to claim the green jacket.

The Masters historically provides one of the most significant annual boosts in terms of viewership as well as general interest in golf, one of the nation’s biggest participation sports.

The National Golf Foundation recently reported that in the almost 800 weeks since the start of 2008, only 33 have resulted in a week-over-week increase in online search activity for golf that was greater than 20%. Those include 14 of the past 15 Masters weeks, which points to April being the unofficial start of the golf season in many parts of the country as well as the heightened interest the event creates among recreational golfers. That, in turn, drives not only search activity but purchases – from golf equipment to apparel, accessories, instruction and golf trips.

It’s why so many consumer-focused golf companies, especially on the apparel and footwear side, have activations tied to the first major championship of the season. The two biggest increases in the search popularity for “golf shoes” over the past five years were both Masters weeks, the NGF noted. So, it was small surprise to see companies such as Nike, adidas, FootJoy, NOBULL, Puma, and Olukai roll out golf shoes with spring or Masters-inspired looks.

The boost in Masters TV ratings is especially notable this year.

And looking ahead, the rift between the PGA Tour and LIV could unquestionably be a positive for this year’s other major championships – at least in terms of generating strong viewership and interest. Those three upcoming events, the PGA Championship (May 18-21), U.S. Open (June 15-18) and Open Championship (July 20-23), are currently the only stroke play tournaments in which top players from LIV and the PGA Tour are able to square off against one another.