It is undeniable that Scottie Scheffler won the 88th Masters. However, soon after, he was hit with nothing short of a cruel reality as the viewership for the final round of the major was made public. Well, compared to last year when Jon Rahm lifted the trophy, the ratings saw a 20% dip. Meanwhile, the current No.1 golfer could only accept it and move forward despite the same.
Scheffler was spotted in an interview ahead of the upcoming tournament on the PGA Tour, the RBC Heritage. Interestingly, he went ahead to point out how fans are getting a bit exhausted with what is happening in the sport at the moment while dubbing the competition as the greatest aspect of the game!
Scottie Scheffler dishes out his verdict on TV ratings
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Although a bit unsure, the 27-year-old, when posed with the question of what the average golf fan likes, agreed how the ratings have taken a dip these recent times. Elaborating on the same, he said, “As far as the average fan goes, I’m not really sure. I think they’re probably getting a little bit tired of all the noise.”
However, conveying what he feels is great about the game, he said, “What I love the most is coming out here and competing.” Continuing on, Scheffler added, “So if a little bit of the narrative could get shifted back towards that, I think that would be really nice,” while alluding to how the focus should be made on the sport and its players duking it out on the field as opposed to the numbers.
What’s more, Scheffler brought in a couple of instances where the athletes were dishing out their best regardless of the money involved. Fascinatingly, he referred to the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball and women’s collegiate golf as he said, “You look at something like March Madness and they’re not competing for any money or anything like that. You can look at the women’s game. The women in college now, they’re staying four years in school, there’s good rivalries, you have teams pitted against each other year after year, and it’s really intriguing to watch and it’s not about anything other than wanting to witness something great and enjoying the competition.”
Unfortunately, although he emerged victorious at the end of the major championship, many in the community took to blame the golfer for the dismal ratings. Regardless of whether he accepted the bitter truth or not, it truly makes one wonder as to what the enthusiasts of the sport actually said about the professional.
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A ‘boring’ Scheffler fails to attract viewers
The report that was released recently divulged how the viewership in the sport continues to drop. Moreover, it revealed the number of viewers that tuned in for the Sunday round while dubbing Scheffler’s display as “the second-largest deficit of the season.” Consequently, a follower of the sport went ahead to mention how the current world No.1 does not attract many viewers to the sport.
Tough to spin this. Whilst Scheffler is a great player he does not attract new viewers. It seems as if showing live all Woods’s 82 shots on Saturday did not really work.
— Stevo (@Millhill1962) April 16, 2024
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Meanwhile, another user on X went ahead to comment, “He’s too dominant and boring,” while referring to the American pro as someone who will obviously come out top at the end of the day. Besides, Scheffler being known for his unemotional nature didn’t help either. Anyhow, it seems there were and still are a lot of people who weren’t too impressed by the golfer’s display of skill. Regardless, at the end of the day, he still won a major championship and nothing can seem to change that fact!