There are few players not named Tiger Woods who still move the needle in professional golf. Rory McIlroy is undoubtedly one of those players.
Despite a leaderboard littered with players that casual golf fans wouldn’t be able to pick out of a lineup such as J.J. Spaun, Bud Cauley and Danny Walker, the Players Championship saw an uptick in TV ratings from Scottie Scheffler’s win in 2024 as McIlroy came back in the final round and ultimately forced a Monday playoff, which he won.
According to Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal, the Players Championship on Sunday drew 3.6 million average viewers on NBC, up from 3.5 million from last year's final round.
The peak audience, measured at 7 p.m. ET, also improved from last year, reaching 6.2 million viewers, up from 6 million last season.
The ratings were not quite as good as they were in 2023, which drew 4.1 million average viewers in Scottie Scheffler’s first of two Players wins. However, it is a positive sign overall when acknowledging the downward trend in ratings this season.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rory McIlroy’s Players Championship Win Brought Improved TV Ratings.
