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Fans have reacted to the decline in viewership in the first round of the 2025 Masters compared to last year. SBJ's Josh Carpenter reported that this year's Masters received 2.3 million viewers, a 28 percent fall from the 3.2 million in 2024.
The decrease in viewership is largely attributed to the absence of the former World No. 1 and five-time Masters champion Tiger Woods. He competed in last year's tournament, which resulted in a nine-year high viewership of the opening round. Moreover, this year's viewership numbers are less than the 2023 Masters, which received 2.5 million.
Popular golf account NUCLRGOLF shared the news of a decline in viewership in the first round of the Masters 2025 with fans, writing:
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"#NEW: ESPN is reporting first round viewership of 2.3M, down a significant 28% from last year's first round of 3.2M viewers. Is it due to Tiger being injured?"
Fans took to the comment section and attributed the drop in viewership at the Masters to Tiger Woods' absence. Some fans also expressed their frustration with not showing Bryson DeChambeau on coverage.
"Tiger effect," one fan commented.
"Yes. The game is still about Tiger," other fan commented.
"The absolute most entertaining man in golf was barely covered. Of course, referring to Bryson," one fan wrote.
Tiger Woods, 49, suffered a rupture in the Achilles tendon at the beginning of March. He announced on X that he had a "non-invasive surgery" and was recovering. He is likely to miss all four majors in the 2025 season.
Some fans blamed poor broadcast scheduling and limited player visibility because of inferior featured groups, calling the overall Masters coverage disorganized and insufficient. Some fans also pointed out that the Masters app was better.
"Need better coverage. Full coverage didn’t start till 3PM ET yesterday and today which is unacceptable for a major," other fan wrote.
"It's because they suck with their coverage. Barely see Bryson. Phil Mickelson a legend doesn’t get enough air time. List goes on. Featured groups suck. It’s a complete mess," one fan commented.
"@TheMasters coverage on the app and website was better than @espn & @ESPNPlus coverage," other fan commented.
The third round of the Masters will tee off at 9:50 a.m. on Saturday, April 12. The CBS broadcast will run from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET.
What are the tee times for the third round of the 2025 Masters?
The third round will start with Tom Kim teeing off at 9:50 a.m. ET. Justin Rose and Bryson DeChambeau's pairing would tee off last on the third day at 2:40 p.m. ET.
Joaquin Niemann will tee off with Jordan Spieth at 10 a.m. ET while Jon Rahm will tee off with Zach Johnson at 10:30 a.m. ET. Xander Schauffele will tee off at 1:10 p.m., while Hideki Matsuyama and Ludvig Aberg will tee off at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Here are the tee times and pairings for the third round of the 2025 Masters:
- 9:50 AM - Tom Kim
- 10:00 AM - Joaquin Niemann, Jordan Spieth
- 10:10 AM - Stephan Jaeger, Max Greyserman
- 10:20 AM - Danny Willett, J. T. Poston
- 10:30 AM - Jon Rahm, Zach Johnson
- 10:40 AM - Patrick Cantlay, Akshay Bhatia
- 10:50 AM - Denny McCarthy, J. J. Spaun
- 11:10 AM - Maverick McNealy, Charl Schwartzel
- 11:20 AM - Brian Campbell, Byeong Hun An
- 11:30 AM - Aaron Rai, Justin Thomas
- 11:40 AM - Sahith Theegala, Davis Thompson
- 11:50 AM - Matt Fitzpatrick, Wyndham Clark
- 12:00 PM - Nick Taylor, Daniel Berger
- 12:10 PM - Tom Hoge, Max Homa
- 12:30 PM - Harris English, Min Woo Lee
- 12:40 PM - Sam Burns, Nicolas Echavarria
- 12:50 PM - Brian Harman, Bubba Watson
- 1:00 PM - Davis Riley, Michael Kim
- 1:10 PM - Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood
- 1:20 PM - Patrick Reed, Collin Morikawa
- 1:30 PM - Ludvig Aberg, Hideki Matsuyama
- 1:50 PM - Jason Day, Sungjae Im
- 2:00 PM - Rasmus Hojgaard, Viktor Hovland
- 2:10 PM - Scottie Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton
- 2:20 PM - Matt McCarty, Shane Lowry
- 2:30 PM - Rory McIlroy, Corey Conners
- 2:40 PM - Justin Rose, Bryson DeChambeau
