The drama of the final round of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club appears to have captured the imagination of TV viewers.
Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal group has reported on Twitter that NBC’s coverage drew 6.2 million viewers as Wyndham Clark saw off the challenge of Rory McIlroy to claim his maiden Major title.
NBC says it drew 6.2M viewers across broadcast/Peacock for Wyndham Clark's win Sunday in the U.S. Open. That's up from 5.4M last year and the most-watched since 2019.Five-year trend:2023: 6.2M2022: 5.4M 2021: 5.7M (West Coast)2020: 3.2M (September)2019: 7.3M (West Coast) pic.twitter.com/YKDPJVstT0June 20, 2023
That’s an increase of 800,000 on the same stage in 2022 as Matt Fitzpatrick closed out the victory, while it is also the highest number since 2019, when Gary Woodland thwarted Brooks Koepka’s efforts to claim a third successive title with a three-shot win.
On that occasion, 7.3m watched the action, although there was an alarming drop the year after in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the tournament was played in September and just 3.2 million saw Bryson DeChambeau claim the title. However, the year after, there was a significant bump as 5.7m watched Jon Rahm win his first Major at Torrey Pines.
One factor that could have helped boost viewing figures in the 2023 tournament's final round was the performance of the ever-popular Rickie Fowler, who had been in contention to claim his first Major before fading on as the day progressed.
However, the tournament was not without its critics, with the likes of Brooks Koepka, Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland airing frustrations with the course, while there were relatively low crowd numbers.
However, despite those niggles and the fact that one of the game’s biggest draws,15-time Major winner Tiger Woods, was absent as he recovers from ankle surgery, the figures will surely offer plenty of encouragement, particularly with the disappointment of those for the previous Major, May’s PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
Back then, despite headline-grabbing stories including club pro Michael Block producing a fairytale week and Koepka claiming his fifth Major win, the figures across the tournament slumped to a 15-year low.
Thankfully, it appears that was an anomaly as the third Major of the year enjoyed a boost similar to the first, April’s Masters at Augusta National. That was the most watched golf telecast in five years, as over 15 million watched Rahm clinch the title.
Attention will soon turn to the figures for the final Major of 2023, The Open at Royal Liverpool, which takes place between 20 and 23 July.
