Tiger Woods Presence Draws Staggering TV Viewing Figures

JUST a quick note to all those people out there who question the attention with Tiger Woods and his comeback generates – NBC, who broadcast the Valspar Championship, in which the 14-time major champion finished join runner-up, have revealed that their viewing figures for the third round were up by a mind-blowing 181%.

You can say what you like about Woods, but the man still possesses plenty of pulling power. It was NBC's biggest Saturday audience for any golf tournament for 12 years. So it is safe to assume that there are still millions of people out there pulling for Woods as he seeks his 80th PGA Tour win. Additionally, nearly 5.5 million minutes were streamed on the Golf Channel and NBC Sports Digital while Woods was compiling his third round of 67 – and that is a 612% increase on the same tournament 12 months ago.

Ratings for final round of 2017 Masters: 7.6
U.S. Open: 3.6
Open: 3.2
PGA: 3.6

2018 Valspar: 5.1

But please tell me more about how no one cares about Tiger.

— Ryan Lavner (@RyanLavnerGC) March 12, 2018

The final round TV audience was the highest non-major figure since the 2013 Players Championship. And guess who won that? Ticket sales at the tournament itself also set new records.

NBC analyst David Feherty said: "The game is so much better with Tiger it. The game has been really good with these kids we have at the top of the game at the moment. It’s been phenomenal for the last few years, but people have short memories. If you saw the crowds Tiger has drawn these last weeks, dwarfing the crowds of the last group. People just want to get a glimpse of him. It’s extraordinary the effect that he’s had and continues to exert on the game. It really is something to see. If he can get back into contention, playing well again? Boy.”

No surprise that yesterday's #ValsparChampionship rated hugely @NBCSports 5.11 overnight rating (up just 190% over last year) is most watched non-major since final round of 2013 Players, won by #Tiger

Outside of Masters, it was highest rated golf broadcast since 2015 PGA

— Robert Lusetich (@RobertLusetich) March 12, 2018

Throw into the mix the return to form of Phil Mickelson, who won the recent WGC Mexico Championship, and you have to imagine that the TV viewing figures for The Masters next month are going to break every record in the book.