Rory McIlroy's Zurich Classic Appearance Helps Event To Highest Final-Round Viewing Figures For Three Years

It’s been quite the rollercoaster for PGA Tour viewing figures over 2024 so far, but the numbers for the final round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans are on the encouraging side.

Per Sports Business Journal’s Josh Carpenter, an average 1.852 million viewers watched Sunday's action at TPC Louisiana as Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry closed out victory over Chad Ramey and Martin Trainer in a playoff.

That’s a 26% improvement on the final round of the 2023 tournament, which was won by Nick Hardy and Davis Riley, where 1.47 million tuned in. It’s also the second best since 2015.

There is little doubt that the involvement of McIlroy will have been a big draw. The World No.2 has struggled for his best form on the PGA Tour this season, but his maiden appearance at the unique team event, which came about after a “drunken lunch” with Lowry, proved inspired.

With Lowry’s help, the 34-year-old claimed his 25th career victory on the PGA Tour, moving him to T23 on the all-time list and beyond Dustin Johnson and Gary Player, and the TV watching public responded.

The increased viewing figures will be a boost to the PGA Tour, particularly after some disappointing numbers elsewhere this season, which some players, including McIlroy, have put down to the fractures in the men's elite game.

One of the early warning signs that armchair fans could be losing interest came in February at the Genesis Invitational, when 5% fewer watched Hideki Matsuyama claim victory then had seen Jon Rahm win the year before.

Further disappointing figures followed, most notably the final round of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, which was watched by 17% fewer than a year earlier despite some big names going for victory before World No.1 Scottie Scheffler eventually took the title.

The Valspar Championship also saw a drop before there was finally some respite at the Valero Texas Open. That again featured a strong performance from McIlroy, who finished third. The final round saw figures up 21% from the previous year.

The boost was short-lived as Masters champion Scheffler won again at the RBC Heritage, but CBS’s final-round viewing figures were down on the same stage of the year before.

The latest uptick in viewing figures will surely give the PGA Tour hope that, now we are in the thick of the season, it is a sign of things to come, with or without more encouraging form from McIlroy.