Rory McIlroy's LIV Golf fears come true as Masters viewing figures paint grim picture

The tournament was the least viewed Masters since Hideki Matsuyama’s victory in 2021

The Masters’ viewing figures have painted a bleak picture for golf, confirming Rory McIlroy’s concerns about the ongoing conflict between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. Official numbers revealed a 20% drop in viewership.

The opening round saw an initial surge in US viewership, with an average of 3.2 million tuning into ESPN – a significant increase of 26 per cent from the previous year and the largest first-round audience since 2015. Moreover, the combined two-day viewer average of 3.4 million was the highest since 2018.

However, CBS reported a disappointing 20 per cent decrease in viewership during the final round compared to the previous year. Their average viewership dipped to 9.589 million, making it the least viewed Masters since Hideki Matsuyama’s victory in 2021.

This year’s event is one of the least-watched Masters in the last 30 years, only surpassing the pandemic-affected years of 2020 and 2021. McIlroy, a strong supporter of the PGA Tour, has expressed his dissatisfaction with the division in men’s golf.

In a recent interview, he suggested that the tension between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf likely contributed to the decline in viewership, reports the Mirror US.

“If you look at the TV ratings of the PGA Tour this year, they’re down 20 percent across the board. That’s a fifth. That’s big. I would say the numbers on LIV aren’t great either in terms of the people tuning in,” Rory McIlroy said.

“I just think with the fighting and everything that’s gone on over the past couple of years, people are just getting fatigued, and it’s turning people off men’s professional golf, and that’s not a good thing for anyone.

“It’s going to be really interesting to see how the four major championships do, or even the three, because put Augusta aside, I think that sort of lives in its own world.”

Ahead of the Masters, McIlroy voiced his concerns about the ongoing feud between LIV and the PGA Tour diminishing the public’s interest in golf. Discussions of a merger between the PGA Tour and the backers of LIV, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, have been in the air, but nothing has been set in stone.

Where once McIlroy was a vocal critic of LIV, he seems to have softened his stance. This shift comes amid whispers of him mulling over an $850 million offer from LIV.

Nonetheless, his manager Sean O’Flaherty has quashed such rumors.

McIlroy has also shown remorse for his initial hardline approach towards LIV and admitted to being too quick to judge players who made the jump. Among the early birds to LIV were Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Sergio Garcia, with Mickelson reportedly bagging $200 million just for showing up.

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