Golf fans shocked as latest LIV Golf vs PGA Tour TV ratings are revealed
Golf fans react as TV ratings are revealed from last weekend's LIV Golf Mayakoba and PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Golf fans have been reacting to the latest TV ratings following LIV Golf's first event of the season at Mayakoba and the PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which was reduced to a 54-hole tournament following a final-round washout.
With no live golf played on Sunday over on the PGA Tour, it left the door wide open for golf fans to head over to The CW Network should they so wish and view the final round of LIV Golf Mayakoba in Mexico.
It was also a particularly strong leaderboard heading into the final round too, with Joaquin Niemann leading by two strokes over LIV Golf debutant and arguably the best player in the world, Jon Rahm.
But despite everything aligning perfectly for LIV Golf in the final round, unfortunately its viewing figures on The CW Network were close to five times less to that of CBS Sports' third-round coverage of the PGA Tour's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, which ended up being the final round due to bad weather.
Wyndham Clark was crowned the winner after surging into the third-round read following a stunning 60, which marked the lowest-ever round at famed Pebble Beach.
It was not the lowest round of the weekend, however, as Niemann fired a course-record 59 in the first round at Mayakoba.
While Clark's round marked the lowest of his blossoming PGA Tour career, the 60 did not count as an official record at Pebble Beach as a result of preferred lies being in place.
Niemann ended up defeating his former mentor Sergio Garcia at the fourth extra hole in darkness over at Mayakoba, while Rahm led his new Legion XIII to a four-stroke team victory despite throwing away the individual title when finding the penalty area with his tee shot down the 17th.
PGA Tour trounces LIV Golf
According to official TV ratings from the weekend's action in the men's professional game, CBS had 1.951m viewers during Saturday's third round.
In comparison, LIV Golf's second-round action on Saturday drew 168,000 viewers on The CW Network but an improved 432,000 viewers on Sunday.
Pebble Beach PGA (Saturday), CBS: 1.951m
LIV Golf (Saturday), CW: 168K
LIV Golf (Sunday), CW: 432K https://t.co/I7csAFZ3vK— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) February 6, 2024
However...
What must be taken into consideration is the above numbers do not include streaming available on both the LIV Golf Plus App and the LIV Golf YouTube channel.
While these figures have not been made official, LIV Golf's final round YouTube video has amassed 165,000 views.
One big positive for LIV Golf is the fact its final-round coverage of the first event of the season on The CW Network was superior to that of its first event in 2023, also at Mayakoba, which had 291,000 viewers.
So it's not all bad news for LIV Golf.
Golf fans have been reacting to the latest TV ratings on LIV Golf and the PGA Tour over on social media, so we encourage you to head over to our GolfMagic post on both Facebook and Twitter and get involved in the debate.
Some fans think its very unfair to compare the two Tours without knowing how many viewers came through the LIV Golf Plus App, while others believe LIV Golf will never reach PGA Tour TV ratings no matter how much money is pumped into the Saudi-backed circuit.
Which tournament did you watch last weekend? Did you tune into the final round of LIV Golf Mayakoba? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.
Andy first joined the brand on a month's work experience back in April 2011, and he now assumes the Editor role. When Andy joined GolfMagic it was a small site with potential.
