There was no one that isn’t named Tiger Woods that was happier about Tiger’s success at this past weekend’s Open Championship than the suits at NBC and the Golf Channel. Woods’ best performance at a major in years led to some record breaking ratings for both NBC Sports and the Golf Channel. Ratings for the Open Championship grew each day the tournament continued.
First round coverage gave Golf Channel its most watched Thursday in network history. From 8 am until 4 pm Eastern that day, Golf Channel more than tripled the audience of the next highest rated sports cable outlet.
Viewership for the second round on Friday grew by 11% over the previous day and was up 4% from 2017. It was the most watched weekday on Golf Channel since the Friday competition in the 2016 Ryder Cup.
Woods’ value to the sport really started to show on Saturday, which was also the first day coverage of The Open Championship moved to NBC. The 3.0 overnight rating is up 25% from last year. That was also the highest overnight rating for any day of a major in 2018.
At least, it was until Sunday.
With Tiger Woods not only in contention, but actually leading for part of the day, NBC saw monster ratings for the final round of The Open Championship. The overnight rating of 5.0 puts the broadcast in some rarified air. It makes 2018 the highest rated Open Championship in 18 years. It also is a 31% audience gain from Jordan Spieth’s 2017 win.
Even during his leanest years, Tiger Woods’ presence on the golf course is good for whatever network happens to be carrying the tournament he is playing in. The 2018 Open Championship is proof that Tiger Woods is still TV’s favorite golfer.
