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The PGA Tour’s Honda Classic draws 2.38 million viewers for Sunday’s final round playoff matchup…more than EIGHT TIMES the number that watched LIV Golf’s first tournament of the season
LIV Golf has had no trouble attracting some of the sport’s best talent, but attracting television audiences will be a more difficult task, as viewership for its inaugural broadcasts on the CW Network lagged far behind its rivals on the PGA Tour.
An average of 286,000 and 291,000 viewers tuned in on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, to watch six-time Grand Slam winner Phil Mickelson and former No. 1 Dustin Johnson lead an all-star cast at LIV’s season opener in Mayakoba, Mexico, according to Nielsen.
With fewer big names to boast in their field, the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic drew 1.61 million viewers on Saturday and 2.38 million on Sunday, by comparison, on NBC.
LIV Golf is the first sport to air on the CW Network, after the two parties agreed to a multi-year agreement in January.
Perry Sook, president and chief executive of the CW Network’s parent company Nexstar, said on Tuesday’s earnings call that the three-day tournament was watched by more than 1.4 million across the network and its digital platform.
2.38 million viewers tuned in to the Honda Classic, more than eight times the audience of LIV
Meanwhile, less than 300,000 tuned in to watch LIV’s Charles Howell III win at Mayakoba
“We are very happy with our first LIV Golf weekend,” said Sook.
“It’s selling very well and I think we’ll continue to grow as we get more involved in the season.”
Funded by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, LIV Golf has attracted some of the biggest names in the sport with the promise of huge paydays and a reduced schedule.
Meanwhile, the PGA Tour has suspended members who joined the breakaway circuit.
The 14-event season began amid an ongoing rift between the two sides, as two other competitors, Chilean Mito Pereira, who finished third in last year’s PGA Championship, and Colombian Sebastián Muñoz joined LIV. earlier this month.
Charles Howell took home $4 million in individual prize money at the LIV event, while Chris Kirk took home $1.512 million at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Kirk held on in a tiebreaker over fellow American Eric Cole in a tournament that was devoid of the big names that had drawn eyes in the weeks before.
The highest ranked golfer in the world rankings to travel to the PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, FL was South Korean star Sungjae Im.
Meanwhile, big names like Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth were left out of the tournament.
Chris Kirk won the final round with a sudden playoff death over Eric Cole on Sunday night.