At this very moment, no one is happier than Rickie Fowler. And Rightly so! The 34-year-old just snapped his three-plus-year winless drought. Since the Waste Management Phoenix Open in 2019, he’s been looking for his next win. Although he came very close to winning the US Open and the Travelers Championship recently, it seems like fate had other plans. However, finally, after quite a long wait, Fowler won the Rocket Mortgage Classic following an epic playoff! However, unfortunately, not all was great.
Just like Fowler, his flourishing fan base was also eagerly awaiting this win. However, while the course was filled with the never-ending clamor of the fans in attendance at his historic $1,584,000 victory, his fans off-the-course, who were glued to their TVs, could not witness his incredible feat. And for that, a PGA Tour decision was to blame!
Rickie Fowler’s victory celebrations go incomplete off the course
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The weather is something that no one has control over. Due to weather trouble at the Rocket Mortgage Classic on Sunday, the PGA Tour decided to push the tee times ahead by over four hours for the final round. While this isn’t uncommon in the sport, the officials made one major blunder. They overlooked the TV schedule!
Although the live event was streaming on the CBS app and website, when it came to TV, the event was broadcast with a huge delay. The tournament began at 1 p.m.; however, on TV, as per SB Nation’s recent report, a rodeo was broadcast at 1, followed by the PGA Tour Special at 2. The Rocket Mortgage Classic’s broadcast of Fowler’s round only began at 3 p.m., with them showing the taped rounds.
Since the event was already over by then and the winner had been crowned, not many saw the sense of watching it. Especially for the loyal Fowler fans who had been awaiting his victory for years. Notably, they would have preferred to see Fowler play live rather than read about his stunning win on social media.
The PGA Tour, of course, got a lot of backlash from the fans for this gross error; however, it wasn’t the only blow the Tour dealt regarding the matter either. As per reports, the blunder seems to have cost them dearly!
The PGA Tour suffers a huge potential blow thanks to its broadcasting blunder
Both LIV Golf and the PGA Tour clashed on event days this week. Obviously, this created a rift between them over which the tournament was getting more attention. While LIV Golf was broadcasting every detail from the Valderrama at its Andalucia event, the PGA Tour changed the tee times on Sunday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.
Soon after getting publicly scrutinized, LIV Golf Insider, a LIV fan account, claimed on Twitter that the rating of the PGA Tour had fallen from the last time. As per its reports, the account claimed that the Rocket Mortgage Classic TV ratings were much lower than what they got in 2022. In 2022, the tournament’s views stood at 480,000 per day, while in 2023, they were only around 300,000 per day.
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🚨BREAKING:#RocketMortgageClassic TV ratings are in and they are AWFUL.
We know the #PGATour will never be able to outdraw #LIVGolf head to head. We saw that first hand this week.
-2023 -36% vs 2022
-Averaged 300,000 views per day -480,000 in 2022 #LIV owns golf📈— LIV Golf Insider (@LIVTracking) July 3, 2023
If the claims made by LIV Golf Insider are true, then it is definitely a major blow to the PGA Tour’s popularity. The tournament was the highlight moment for Fowler and his fans, and it is certainly regrettable that they weren’t able to see his dazzling victory live on television.
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Did you also miss Fowler’s game on television? Let us know in the comments below.