Not long ago, there was a lot of buzz about golf going digital, with the winner of The Showdown set to take home prize money in cryptocurrency. The event featured World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and World No. 3 Rory McIlroy facing off against LIV Golf’s big names—Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka—at Shadow Creek Golf Club in Vegas.

This rare crossover between the two rival tours had everyone talking, so naturally, there was a lot of hype. But, as it turns out, the match didn’t live up to expectations. The PGA Tour duo comfortably swept all three sessions, leaving fans who were hoping for a closer contest feeling disappointed. And despite the digital prize money angle, you’d think that would bring in a ton of viewers, right? Well, not quite.

Josh Carpenter from Sports Business Journal shared the numbers, and let’s just say, they’re not great. According to Carpenter, The Showdown only pulled in 625,000 viewers across TNT and TBS, making it “the second-lowest total ever in The Match series.” Ouch!

To put that in perspective, The Match has been a thing since 2018, with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at the same venue. And usually, it’s a big deal—like 1 million+ viewers. Take The Match: Champions for Charity in 2020, with Woods, Mickelson, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady—it got 5.8 million viewers.

But this year’s The Match IX, with McIlroy, Max Homa, Lexi Thompson, and Rose Zhang? It got just 511,000. So, yeah, The Showdown did a little better, but still nothing to write home about.

And if you think the ratings for golf this year have been rough, you’re right. The average Sunday viewership for the PGA Tour was 2.8 million, but that’s a 20% drop from last year (if you leave out the Majors). And then, when the FedEx Cup Fall season kicked off? Just 69,000 people tuned in to watch Patton Kizzire win the Procore Championship on the Golf Channel.

No surprise, fans are putting the blame on Jay Monahan. Looks like the viewership drop has some people questioning his leadership.

Jay Monahan gets the heat of fans’ wrath

When it comes to viewership, the PGA Tour has always had its challenges. But now, the golf community seems to have had enough, and now they are pointing out reasons. “It’s like everything else the PGA Tour does, it was very poorly promoted. They have no idea what to do unless Tiger is involved. All the PGA Tour’s eggs remain in Tiger’s basket. They need to call Dana White to learn how to market their product,” a fan wrote. Hard to argue with that—other sports like the UFC under White’s leadership are thriving in comparison. Maybe it really is time for the PGA to take a few notes.

Another fan suggested some drama: “Take the four guys on the bubble 124-127 and watch them playing for their tour cards. That would be drama.” And then there was this: “Bigger numbers than the CW…. and still awful! For me personally pro golf isn’t fun to watch anymore I watch 1/2 as much as I used to and also hosting it on a course that 95% of people will never play because they can’t afford it isn’t a great idea.” As of recent, ticket prices have soared to watch any PGA Tour event, which leads to a loss of attendance on the day of the matches. The sport maybe slowly heading towards a future where only an elite few who can afford are only subjected to watching golf.

It’s not just the fans who are disappointed; even players like DeChambeau and McIlroy have voiced their concerns.

Earlier this year, DeChambeau straight-up said the ongoing Tour drama is killing interest: “Too many people are losing interest.” Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy pointed to the disappointing numbers, saying: “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.”

Fans are even coming in with advice. One wrote: “This is very simple. Don’t play golf at night, ever. Have a real skins game where the players bring their checkbooks, write the checks on live TV. Have it air on cable table TV. Do not involve the @PGATOUR” Now that would be a show.

Others think the problem is the fractured state of professional golf. “Professional golf needs to realign under the PGA Tour FAST. Nobody cares for these events,” one fan said.

And then, of course, Jay Monahan gets dragged into the mix. Fans and analysts alike are frustrated with the lack of transparency from the PGA Tour commissioner. As Golf Digest pointed out earlier this year, Monahan’s vague answers in press conferences aren’t helping, while an article from The Fried Egg pointed out the Tour’s missteps in keeping fans engaged.

But the most brutal take? “Terrible job promoting the event. Aside from that, the gimmicky format makes it less appealing to bet on. Buzz and excitable gambling opportunities are how you get a rating in 2024.” And then, of course, someone else just flat-out said, “Fire Monahan.”

From poor marketing to format issues and a fractured landscape, it seems the PGA Tour has a lot to figure out if it hopes to win fans back.