Guess Jay Monahan can breathe a sigh of relief now. The past few weeks have been bumpy ones for the PGA Tour and its commissioner. From changing the broadcast timings to avoid a clash with the NFL to the poor coverage of its tournaments, the golfing body’s boat surely was navigating through some troubled waters. But ‘Enough is enough’ – said the men’s circuit.

Enter the Sony Open in Hawaii. The Tour was able to learn from its mistakes as the second event on the 2024 calendar came into the picture. Now, a few days following its end, a post was shared on social media revealing the details of the tourney’s broadcast, painting nothing short of an assuaging picture for the PGAT.

The PGA Tour coverage finally sees some light

A tweet was shared by Josh Carpenter, a golf writer, highlighting the numbers surrounding the coverage of the last event. He mentioned how the “viewership” during the final day of play reached an average of 425,000. These figures supposedly show a “16% up from last year,” which was marked at 365,000 people at the 2023 Sony Open.

Was that all? No, not at all, as the Grayson Murray winning moment, including the last hole and the playoffs, reached a whopping 891,000. The golfer scoring a birdie at the par-5 18th hole of the Wai’alae Country Club was able to rake in an increase of “24% from 720,000 last year.” 

It seems Monahan would have a weight lifted from his shoulders now. Back in The Sentry, the circuit had received a lot of backlash from the viewers following its sub-par coverage of the event. Moreover, the telecast being bombarded with commercials did not help improve the situation at all.

Well, that wasn’t all. The Monahan-led body went ahead to move up the television broadcast of the first signature event. The reason? A lack of confidence, perhaps!

Monahan’s Sentry decision and the bleak PGA Tour picture

The first event on the 2024 calendar went ahead to miss the prime time slots in a bid to avoid a clash with the 18th Week of the NFL. Andy Johnson, of Fried Egg Golf Podcast, pointed out how NBC and Sunday Night Football came together to create “a scenario” where the Tour couldn’t showcase the finish of their tournament.

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Although the move was made to let the fans watch the event without any hindrance, the action does, indubitably, portray a concerning picture for the PGA Tour: a fear of going against American football while painting it as a superior product, no less! Comparing the numbers from the past year does not provide some sort of relief either, as the NFL managed to average 17.2 million viewers per game while the circuit’s event had a mere 2.59 million on CBS!

Nevertheless, the Sony Open was able to provide some breathing space for the commissioner and his golfing body. But we can only wait and see if it will become the first step to a better future for golf!

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