Patton Kizzire produced a resounding victory to start the PGA Tour’s fall season on Sunday. However, the final round’s TV ratings were anything but a win.
Kizzire broke a six-year winless drought on tour by claiming the Procore Championship by five shots over David Lipsky in Napa. But as Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter reported on Tuesday, only 69,000 were watching on Golf Channel.
More golf viewership from Sunday: 69,000 on Golf Channel for Patton Kizzire's win in the Procore Championship.
A big drop from last year, which saw 298,000 for Sahith Theegala's win (this past Sunday did have a slight overlap with the Emmy's). pic.twitter.com/SSedQCyR7D
— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) September 17, 2024
To get the full context, there certainly was a lot going on in the golf world on Sunday with the Irish Open, the Solheim Cup and LIV Golf’s individual season finale. The LIV tourney, airing on the CW, didn’t draw great ratings, either, with only 89,000 watching despite a much bigger star, Jon Rahm, winning to claim the season-long $18 million bonus. The Solheim Cup—airing on NBC—outdrew both easily.
IndyCar Nashville: 483K
LIV Chicago Saturday: 134K
LIV Chicago Sunday: 89K
Solheim Cup Saturday: 634K
Solheim Cup Sunday: 657K https://t.co/olk92h4sKj— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) September 17, 2024
Not to mention, it was an NFL Sunday that also had the Emmys partially overlapping with the Procore’s final round. Still, the PGA Tour drawing less than a quarter of viewers from last year’s event is a notable drop-off.
One would think these low viewership numbers would only push the PGA Tour and LIV closer together in their ongoing negotiations. However, there are reports that those have hit a snag as well.
Regardless, we can assume that both sides can agree on at least one thing: Sunday’s TV turnout was disappointing.
Main Image: Al Chang/ISI Photos
