Black Desert Championship fails to pull viewers with only 117,000 fans tuning in

The Black Desert Championship was a brand-new PGA Tour tournament, with its first-ever iteration coming in October 2024. Unfortunately, it was not a banner start, as the ratings for the tournament were dreadfully low. Per reports, only 117,000 fans watched the event on Sunday.

The final round is usually the most-watched one for every golf tournament. It's, by and large, when the winner is determined, and there's usually a lot of intrigue around several players. While that was still the case here, the overall attention on the Black Desert Championship was just not there.

The PGA Tour is in its lesser-followed segment right now. The fall schedule comes after the epic finish to the FedEx Cup season, which is played from January to August. The events being played now don't have the top golfers, like Scottie Scheffler or Xander Schauffele, competing in them like earlier ones did.

Still, it was a successful tournament and some of the only golf to watch right now. But not many tuned in to see Matt McCarty win after shooting -23. It was the third career start on tour for McCarty, who unfortunately did not have a huge audience for his clinching round.

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Wife of Black Desert Championship course opens up on event

Tom Weiskopf is a World Golf Hall of Famer (he was named to the hall posthumously), and the final course he ever designed is the one at which the Black Desert Championship was just held. It was a monumental occasion for the widow he left behind.

The Black Desert Championship is a brand-new tournament (Imagn)

Laurie Weiskopf said via Golfweek:

“He would have been just thrilled. Really thrilled. You know there was talk of a PGA Tour event potentially coming as he was building it, but Tom thought that was super aggressive thinking. It would be a surprise to him that it came in 2024. I’m not saying he’d be shocked, but this would have been a surprise to him.”

She also opened up on how hard her late husband had worked to get this course finished. Weiskopf said the Black Desert Championship venue project was "scary" and added:

“He fell more than once. I sent him out with the best boots, but he came home with blood all over his hands and I had gloves for him the next day. But I knew he wasn’t going to stop. For him, this wasn’t work. Well, most of the projects weren’t work.”

Players rushed to praise the tournament venue following the conclusion of the event, and it was all a bit overwhelming for the emotional Weiskopf. Despite there not being a lot of television attention, the tournament seems to have been a major success for players and the family of the designer.