It’s no surprise here that the final round of the PGA Championship drew in big overnight numbers. With Tiger Woods finishing solo second, and making a run at a 15th major championship, that’s just what happens.
Tiger moves the needle. He always has and he always will. When he’s done with golf, there will be no one else who does what he does for viewership.
CBS saw their highest rated third round coverage – up 54% with an overnight rating of 3.7 – of the PGA Championship since 2009 when Woods finished second to Y.E. Yang.
The final round was much of the same except the numbers were even bigger.
CBS scored a 6.1 overnight rating, up 69% from last year which earned a 3.5. This makes it the highest final round rating since…once again…2009.
This is also the fifth time this season that the ratings have surpassed 5.0 compared to only once in 2017, and of the 11 highest rated PGA rounds this season, eight have featured Tiger in contention.
The only final round to earn a higher overnight rating was the 7.9 scored by the Masters.
The overnights for 2018:
Masters: 7.9
U.S. Open: 3.6
The Open: 5.0
PGA: 6.1
Welcome back Big Cat! We’ve missed you!
[Numbers via SportsMediaWatch]