The PGA Tour did an incredible job sailing through northeast Florida on Sunday, sailing in front of a lovely award-winning storm for this.
NBC players' final round ratings were 3.5 million viewers last year and an average of 3.6 million viewers. Josh Carpenter Sports Business Journal Initially, I reported the news.
This year, Rory McIlroy held the lead on the stretch, but he ended up finishing 12 under par alongside JJ Spaun. The sun then set and everyone waited for the Monday finish. McIlroy then defeated Spawn in the three-hole total playoffs Monday morning.
Coverage peaked at 6.2 million on Sunday, up from 6 million last year. There were some surprising numbers considering golf fans have to withstand a 4-hour weather delay on Sunday afternoons.
The tour did everything it could to get out in front of the predicted storm. They traveled through tee time until the morning, sending players away from the three of them and the split tee, hoping for the best. However, Mother Nature brought lightning and heavy rain around 1:15pm ET.
Luckily, when players returned to the spot with TPC Sawgrass, they left a little over two hours from the sun. By then, all groups had played at least 10 holes, leaving enough time for everyone to finish. McIlroy also holds the solo lead when play stops, and the rating usually gives a solid return whenever the top of the leaderboard features his name. This week was true, but given that players had to withstand long weather delays, tour executives and NBC brass should be happy with these numbers.
This also continues the bounce back trend for the 2025 PGA Tour. This is because CBS also saw evaluation bumps during the West Coast swing during February.
Jack Mirco is a golf staff writer who plays SB Nation. Follow him with x @jack_milko.
