PGA Championship Final Round Ratings Hits 15-Year Low

While the 2023 PGA Championship struggled through unfavorable weather, many would believe that Sunday’s final round was a huge success for the event. Indeed, head professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club, Michael Block, became the sweetheart story after making the cut and hitting a final round hole-in-one that has pushed the value of his 7-iron up to $50,000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by PGA Championship (@pgachampionship)

Additionally, Brooks Koepka’s victory—his third PGA Championship—helped make history, as Koepka is now the 20th golfer with five or more majors, joining other five-time winners Byron Nelson and Seve Ballesteros.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by PGA Championship (@pgachampionship)

Unfortunately, the feel-good story and history didn’t translate into ratings.

PGA Championship: CBS draws 4.517M viewers Sunday for Brooks Koepka’s win, the lowest since 2008 (4.020M) and down 14% from 5.273M for Justin Thomas last year.

Sunday viewership trend for the PGA:
2023: 4.517M
2022: 5.273M
2021: 6.583M
2020: 5.153M (in August)
2019: 5.008M pic.twitter.com/ZLlK9UqhkK

— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) May 23, 2023

Sunday’s final round marked the lowest viewership for a final round of a PGA Championship on CBS since 2008—15 years ago!

It is unclear why, as the PGA v. LIV narrative may have actually contributed to the Masters’ record viewership numbers, where the final round was the most-watched golf telecast on an U.S. network in five years.  And like the Masters, the PGA Championship cued up another PGA v. LIV final pairing, with VicViktor Hovland—seeking his first Major victory—against Koepka.  Perhaps the PGA Championship needs to look in the mirror, as the post-event reporting appears to be glazing over the fact that a LIV golfer won the event.

Regardless of the reason, what matters now is the U.S. Open is only a few more weeks away, so it’ll be interesting to see how the narratives play out with some LIV golfers having to compete through the qualifying stages.

Cover Image Via BetMGM