PGA Tour likely to take notice of dismal report
The PGA Tour is likely to take notice after the Presidents Cup viewing figures were laid bare in a report by Sports Business Journal.
Officials at the PGA Tour are likely to wince after the viewing figures for the 2024 Presidents Cup were revealed.
The latest edition of the biennial contest between the United States and Internationals at Royal Montreal was not short of drama.
Tom Kim, Camilo Villegas, Wyndham Clark and Kevin Kisner all hit the headlines as tensions simmered in Quebec.
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Kim was involved in a heated match against Scottie Scheffler and later accused Team USA of behaving in an unsporting manner.
Villegas came to blows with U.S. assistant Kevin Kisner as he defended Kim's 'deplorable' behaviour.
And Clark exchanged insults with South Korea's Ben An.
Earlier in the week, An said he 'couldn't give a f---' about the criticism he received for calling out the 2023 U.S. Open champion.
Despite what some may consider compelling viewing, the audience for the Sunday singles was down a staggering 28% from last year, according to Sports Business Journal.
Approximately 1.37m tuned in to watch the broadcast on NBC.
Viewing figures for Saturday - where the U.S. forged an 11-7 lead - were equally disappointing.
SBJ report NBC drew 1.89m on Saturday, a 36% drop from 2022.
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons why Presidents Cup failed to attract millions of viewers was simply some of the best players in the men's game weren't involved.
It was played without LIV Golf players.
The PGA Tour runs the event and therefore players from the breakaway are banned from participating.
Brooks Koepka and reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau were the two big omissions from the red, white and blue.
Whereas Mike Weir's Internationals had to make do without Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen and the talented Chilean Joaquin Niemann.
There have been calls to make huge changes to the Presidents Cup when it returns to Medinah in two years' time.
The American Solheim Cup captain, Stacy Lewis, has suggested making Presidents Cup a mixed event.
"It's the perfect way to blend the two tours," she said.
"The international team will get better very quickly."
"I think it would be amazing to have the two Tours together that way."
Ideas to improve the Presidents Cup
Obviously, you could argue that LIV players should be allowed back in given the PGA Tour are in talks with the breakaway's backers, PIF, to resolve the divide in the men's game.
Aside from making the Presidents Cup a mixed event, perhaps it would be more compelling by including more players from all over the world.
What about each side picking two wildcards from any international country?
Perhaps you could also rip up the format completely and try something different.
What do you think?
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Ben joined the GolfMagic team in September 2021, initially as a content executive.
These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
