The disheartening trend continues! This year it has been a saddening journey of PGA Tour’s broadcast numbers going down, and this was the scene at the TPC Southwind as well. As we all know, the first competition of the FedEx Playoffs just ended, and Hideki Matsuyama took home the trophy and $3.6 million in all his glory. But did fans tune in to see the final 18 holes? They did, but not as many as last year.
Despite Hideki’s electrifying win, TV ratings saw a huge decline in viewership. A total of 1 million users tuned out this time compared to last year. TV ratings for the FedEx St. Jude Championship’s final round on NBC dropped significantly, with only 2.2 million viewers tuning in to see Matsuyama’s win when around 3.2 million had watched Lucas Glover’s win in 2023 on CBS. The decline in viewership has the fans mocking the PGA Tour and speaking in favor of its rival.
Almost every Tour event this year has seen falling ratings, especially on final days. This year was the first one when someone defended their Player Championship title, and then also the numbers were low as compared to the last year. Scheffler’s win only garnered 3.5 million views, whereas, in 2023, Sunday numbers were 4.3 million. Before this, the Arnold Palmer Invitational too faced a similar fate. The final round at Bay Hill got 2.3 million viewers on TV, compared to the 3.3 million that Kurt Kitayama’s victory generated in 2023. The final round of the Genesis Invitational too witnessed a declining trend, with viewers dropping to 3.2 million from 3.4 million in 2023.
The final round of the Valspar Championship had 1.886 million viewers, a 27% dip as opposed to the 2023 edition, which had averaged 2.594 million. A similar setback occurred during the Mexico Open as well wherein fewer people tuned in to watch the event.
The fans have a way of stirring up the drama when there is literally none, but in this case, there was some drama. The St. Jude Championship and the LIV Golf Greenbrier were on at the same time, and surprisingly, the majority of fans tuned in to watch the playoff between Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka.
Fans comment on the recent PGA Tour viewership decline
“Rahm vs. Koepka was hard to pass up, tbh,” said one fan—well, a lot of them, actually. It seems like a lot of fans were busy watching the playoff between Koepka and Rahm at the LIV Golf Greenbrier. And well, it was exciting. Brooks Koepka’s golf game was on fire as he came out on top, winning his fifth LIV Golf title. He shot a sick 7-under 63 in the final round, tying Rahm’s 19-under score at the Old White course. Rahm had a solid 65, but Koepka’s determination and focus took him over the top. So perhaps it is understandable why fans were watching Greenbrier instead of St. Jude.
Acting like they weren’t following the FedEx Cup Playoff opener at all, his fan commented, “I watched LIV. Koepka/Rahm was a better option than Hideki and whoever” taking a jab at the PGA Tour. Well, despite what fans are saying, Hideki Matsuyama did play pretty well. The golfer bounced back from a tough time in London and won his second tournament of 2024 with a fill-in caddie by his side! He was cruising with a five-stroke lead going into the final round, and he sank two birdies to take down Xander Schauffele and Viktor Hovland by two strokes.
But the netizens on X didn’t seem to care about that; as another fan said, “Rahm vs. Koepka was hard to pass up, tbh.” The heaps of fans couldn’t stop mocking the PGA Tour and adding fuel to the fire. This one fan said, “LIV was more lit.” This fan gave this whole thing a name and wrote, “LIV effect. To be honest, I watched Rahm v. Brooks battle it out last weekend.”
So, maybe it’s safe to say that LIV Golf may not be winning with the PGA Tour in so many regards, but the fans are definitely making it hard for the PGA Tour to keep the lead. What did you watch last weekend? LIV Greenbrier or PGA’s St. Jude Championship? Let us know in the comment section below!
