Why were the Solheim Cup TV viewing figures so bad?

There has been much handwringing in the United Stars about both the result of the Solheim Cup and the TV viewing figures. 

It has been revealed that just 179,000 people in the USA watched the Saturday action and that tumbled to 170,000 on the Sunday for the final-day singles. This compares with 227,000 in 2015, which was the last time the Americans won on foreign soil, while three years ago, when the event was held in Spain, the final-day figures topped 277,000.

This is being portrayed in the USA as some sort of a crisis, with suggestions that women’s golf lacks appeal to TV audiences, even when national pride is at stake.

I am sorry, but I think the reasons are rather easier to understand.

When the matches teed off in the Netherlands at 8am on Saturday, the time in New York was 3am! It has to be said that you would have to be a pretty keen follower of golf to be up for that time. And when the singles matches got under way on the Sunday, the time back home would have been 5am.

The Solheim Cup is considered to be the event that draws in casual fans who want to support the USA. But at 3am? Really? I cannot imagine any so-called casual fan either setting their alarm for that time or staying up for what would be a marathon viewing session on a September weekend.

(Image Credit: Rolex/Kieran Cleeves)

Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols asked: "What went wrong?"

She wrote: "Bernardus Golf was an unknown venue going into the Solheim Cup. It proved to be a worthy host, delivering on drama and intrigue. But it’s not going to be a reason folks tune in. But then again, who in the U.S. had ever heard of Finca Cortesin in Spain?

"These events tend to go to the highest bidder, and that’s not likely to change." The fact is that had the Solheim Cup been staged anywhere in Europe, the time change would still clearly be a massive issue for golf fans who might otherwise be glued to their TV screens.

And it is a fact that women’s golf in general has seen a worrying fall in viewers over the past few years. Nelly Korda is both American and the world number one who won the first two majors of the year but her success has not been reflected in an uptick when it comes to viewing figures.

The article notes; "In 2022, the Golf Channel averaged 190,000 viewers for LPGA events. In 2025, that number was just 97,000. In 2024, a year during which Korda won an incredible seven times, the average viewership was a startling 95,000."

Nichols continues: When the LPGA follows PGA Tour coverage, there's usually a bump of at least 20 percent in viewership, according to tour officials. The LPGA hopes to work with Golf Channel in 2027 to find more of those opportunities going forward."

"There's a real opportunity from here, and we're excited as we look ahead," J.D. Sterba, the LPGA's vice president of communications, told Golfweek. "We'd separate the performance of this one event from the health of the LPGA audience overall, which is trending up. Across the 2026 season, our viewership is growing – up year over year both on Golf Channel and across all networks. Our digital audience is growing too, with LPGA social impressions during Solheim Cup week up about 30 percent versus 2023.”

I believe the issue is rather more obvious than the likes of Sterba think. There is a dire shortage of characters in the women’s game. Where are the next Paula Creamer, Cristie Kerr, Morgan Pressel, Michelle Wi, Lexi Thompson, Brittany Lincicome? 

In Charley Hull, women’s golf has a charismatic figure who moves the needle, both through her attacking style of golf and personality. She is different. She interacts with the galleries. Too many of today’s top women golfers are like robots.

The 2028 Solheim Cup will be played at Valhalla and you can bet your bottom dollar that the Americans will be throwing the kitchen sink at their attempt to win back the trophy. There will be full network TV coverage and I would be amazed if the viewing figures do not go through the roof. There is also something else to bear in mind - in the Ryder Cup, the US team is filled with players who dominate the world rankings and who are household names. In the Netherlands, only Korda and Lauren Coughlin ranked in the top 20 players in the world. And that is something the Americans are going to have to put right.