Is Tiger Woods Still the Ultimate Needle Mover for Golf Despite ‘Worst’ Masters Round?

Masters marks the second appearance of Tiger Woods in 2024, after his withdrawal from the Genesis Invitational earlier in February due to influenza. Through his ailing body, the 82-time PGA Tour winner, as always, made it to the moving day on the Augusta greens and created history along the way by making 24 consecutive cuts at the Masters. However, Woods is still away from contention and may not win his sixth green jacket.

At one point, when Woods was at the peak of his game, he was the only golfer who made fans flock to the golf course or their TV channels. Even now, after carding eight bogeys and two double bogeys during the third round and finishing 10 over 82, which turns out to be the five-time Masters champion’s worst performance at Augusta National to date. Despite that, it appears that the ‘Woods-Magic’ is still prevalent in the realm of golf.

Does Tiger Woods still attract the masses to watch golf? 

The answer is that he may still do so. Joe Pompliano shared an interesting statistic about the two rounds of the 2024 Masters. Apparently, unlike last year, when Tiger Woods withdrew from the event, this year, the viewership has exponentially increased. Pompliano reported that the Friday round of Masters accumulated 3.4 million viewers on ESPN, a 69% increase from the 2023 edition.

Additionally, the two rounds on Augusta National have an average of 3.4 million viewers tuning in to watch the Masters on ESPN, making the highest average the channel has seen in the last 6 years. The reason behind the exponential rise in viewership can be attributed to Woods since it’s not the first time that views were affected by his presence or absence.

In 1997, when Woods won his first major and Masters, a record 20.3 million people were watching the event. 4 years later, Woods won again, and then 19.2 million viewers tuned in to watch Mr.T don the green jacket for the second time. Then came 2014, the first time in his career, when he was absent from the Augusta National due to back issues. What happened to the viewership that year? It plummeted.

The Bleacher Report reported that due to Woods’s absence, the final-round viewership in 2014 dropped by 24% compared to 2013. It was the lowest recorded viewership of the Masters in that decade. Moreover, the Thursday and Friday rounds on ESPN recorded a 36 and 37% lower rating, respectively. Whereas, on CBS, the third-round viewership dropped by 30% from 2013.

Although one can’t definitely say that Woods is the driving force behind the rise and fall of viewership ratings, it’s no secret that with his illustrious, almost 3-decade career, Mr.T has become a synonym for golf for many across the globe. There might be another factor that may have contributed to the increase in viewership. The coming together of the two warring clans, LIV Golf and PGA Tour.

The unification of golf at men’s first major

It has been a known fact that since LIV Golf started its official season in 2022, many pros have departed the PGA Tour. Since then, the golf audience has rarely seen the best of both worlds playing together. With the PIF-PGA Tour merger being constantly delayed, the dreams of seeing Scottie Scheffler tee up against Cameron Smith or Bryson DeChambeau are also naturally put on hold.

Masters chairman, Fred Ridley also acknowledged the bifurcation in the golf world. He pressed the importance of unification and stated, “I think that it would be a lot better if they [PGA Tour and LIV Golf pros] were together more often.” And right now, Masters, though for a short time, have brought back the best players from both leagues together.

Coming back to the golf viewers, for four days, they can enjoy the game without being divided between the two leagues. The sudden increase in viewership can be attributed to it as well. Last year, a similar effect had 12.06 million viewers watch Jon Rahm don the green jacket, which is significantly lower than Woods winning his first Masters in 1997. However, it was a 19% increase from the 2022 Masters. A win for the game of golf.

This year, with Tiger Woods and all the best golfers coming together at Augusta National, will the final-round viewership shatter the previous records? The possibility is more plausible than ever.