PGA Tour star Matthew Fitzpatrick reacts to shock Masters report: "It's bizarre"
PGA Tour star Matthew Fitzpatrick admitted he was surprised by the poor viewing figures from the 2024 Masters but he has a theory why they were so bad.
Matthew Fitzpatrick says golf's constant chatter about money inevitably led to poor ratings at the 2024 Masters.
Ratings for the full Masters week were released yesterday and it painted a dismal picture.
For the first time in 2024 it was arguable the best players in the world, from LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, came together.
But the 2024 version ranks as the lowest since the COVID-impacted years of 2020 and 2021.
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According to Sports Media Watch, there was an uptick in viewership as four players shared the lead on Sunday.
But overall, the final round amassed 9.59m viewers on CBS, which represented a sharp decline from 2023.
According to the publication, 12.06m viewers watched Jon Rahm clinch the green jacket.
Fitzpatrick was asked about the ratings before his tilt at defending the RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour.
"I am surprised by that, to be fair," he said of the figures.
"Obviously you've got everyone playing together, like everyone wants, and the viewership's down.
"But, yeah, it's bizarre. I think, for me, speaking to people at home and stuff, people are fed up with hearing about the money. I think that's the biggest thing.
"He's getting paid this, he's getting paid that. Prize funds are moving to this.
"I can see that that gets very tiring very quickly. Maybe people aren't interested or maybe just people know Scottie Scheffler's just that good and it was just going to be a coasting Sunday where he just cruises in and wins.
"I don't know. I think my big thing would be the money thing. I think people are probably fed up with that, for sure. But it did surprise me that it was down, given it's the Masters and everyone from both tours are playing with each other."
Speaking of money, a wild rumour suggesting Rory McIlroy was on the verge of joining LIV Golf for $850m yesterday.
McIlroy's management were quick to deny the report and later the man himself grinned cheekily as he emphatically denied he was about to make a U-turn.
"I will play on the PGA Tour for the rest of my life," he said.
A reporter put it to Fitzpatrick that you know you've made it when rumours start to circulate.
Fitzpatrick offered a self-deprecating response that is typical of the Englishman.
"There's been no rumours about me," he said.
"For me, I want to stay out of it. I don't really have any interest. I want to play tournaments like obviously the RBC Heritage, I want to play The Players Championship, I want to go and play BMW Wentworth.
"That's what's important to me, that's what I want to go do and that's what I'll continue to do. But in terms of how it's going to get sorted, I have no idea.
"I think you've got obviously the player advisory board kind of doing their thing, giving their opinions. You've got Jay [Monahan, PGA Tour boss] and the board kind of doing their thing.
"The only real positive sort of take I had was from speaking to Andy Cohen from the SSG Group and I felt like he made things a lot more clear to me and I felt a bit more positive and comfortable about the future with that partnership.
"So that's kind of the only thing that I've really gone off that I've, you know, felt good about. I just don't want to get involved in it. I'm not smart enough to get involved in it for one.
"Two, I just think that what am I going to do? What's my opinion going to matter anyway, so there's no point."
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