Turns out, people love drama. Who knew?

CBS Sports released television ratings for the final round of the Masters and it was the most watched since Patrick Reed won in 2018, beating Rickie Fowler by a shot. It was also the most-watched golf telecast on any network in seven years.

Rory McIlroy took a two-shot lead into the final round over Bryson DeChambeau but that evaporated quickly and he actually trailed after two holes. McIlroy regained a four-shot lead on the back nine but coughed it up with a costly double bogey on the par-5 13th hole when he hit his third shot into the water. After making bogey on the next hole he was in a three-way tie for the lead with Justin Rose and Ludvig Aberg. He actually trailed for a moment, but after making birdie on the 17th hole he needed par on the last to win his first green jacket. But he made bogey after hitting an approach into the greenside bunker, but he made birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to top Rose and capture the career Grand Slam.

According to the CBS Sports report, the round averaged 12.707 million viewers, which is up 33 percent from 2024, where Scottie Scheffler won. Viewership reached its peak during the 7-7:15 timeframe at 19.543 million viewers.

To explain the elephant in the room—the ratings for Tiger Woods’ victory in 2019, his 15th major championship. Because of bad weather expected later in the afternoon on that historic Sunday, tee times were moved up and into a timeslot that typically does not produce as many viewers. The average that day was 10.8 million viewers and the high for the day six years ago reached 12.1 million.

Main Image: JD Cuban