Masters weekend sees highest ratings in 5 years
By: Jay Busbee - Yahoo! SportsTurns out that all golf needs is a foundation-cracking civil war and a compelling duel between two major champions. The Masters recorded its highest weekend ratings in five years on CBS, averaging 12.1 million viewers, the highest since Patrick Reed's victory in 2018.
There is, as always, context that must be applied. Tiger Woods' victory in 2019 came during a rain-rescheduled event that took place Sunday morning. Dustin Johnson's victory in 2020 took place in November, out of season thanks to the pandemic. Hideki Matsuyama's 2021 win and Scottie Scheffler's 2022 win were largely blowouts.
Even so, a 19% year-over-year increase is significant. Viewership on Sunday peaked with more than 15 million viewers in Jon Rahm's final holes.
The weather played havoc with ratings during the tournament; ESPN's Masters coverage Friday was down slightly (3.1 million viewers from 3.5 million) because it had only 90 minutes of live coverage, down from almost five hours the year before.
