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The PGA Tour viewership numbers skyrocketed to a reported 3.6 million on NBC for the final round of the 2025 Players Championship. Last year, the numbers were reportedly 3.5 million.
The Players Championship had hit a major weather delay on Sunday. Play had to be suspended at 1:15 pm ET due to thunderstorms. The tee times had already been moved up by three hours in anticipation of the weather. The tournament had to be paused for several hours before finally resuming. While the play was suspended, NBC was reportedly playing recaps of the previous rounds.
The playoff between Rory McIlroy and JJ Spaun eventually had to be dragged on to Monday morning, where the Northern Irish star prevailed over the latter. It is certainly a positive news for the PGA Tour that despite of so many hurdles, the TV ratings have improved since last year.
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Golf anaylst Josh Carpentar reported the viewership hike on his X account. According to his report, peak audience was recorded at 7pm. Apparently, 6.2M fans had tuned to the action. The sunset was slated to take place at 7:35 pm ET on Sunday (March 16).
Lately, the viewership numbers for the PGA Tour events have been worrisome. The decline in ratings was so severe that ace golfer Justin Thomas had even written to the Tour players suggesting ways they could get fans involved in the tournaments.
Recapping the Players Championship final playoff between Rory McIlroy and JJ Spaun
Rory McIlroy and JJ Spaun returned to TPC Sawgrass on Monday morning to play three extra holes in a playoff.
The duo started on the par-5 16th hole. McIlroy carded a birdie while Spaun settled for a par. The game swung in the Northern Irish golfer's favor after the latter made a mistake on the iconic par-3 17th hole. Spaun's hit found the water while McIlroy managed to find the green in his tee shot.
The lead was too much to overcome and Spaun eventually lost out to the 4-time Major winner. Although McIlroy secured a resounding win on Monday to pick up his second Players Championship title, it was JJ Spaun's performance throughout the week that was one of the main highlights of the tournament.
Spaun had been one of the leaderboard toppers throughout all the rounds and had even come close to winning the event on the 72nd hole, had his birdie putt not stopped mere inches away from the hole.
