AUGUSTA, Ga. -- The PGA Tour handily outdrew LIV Golf on Sunday as the two tours went head-to-head on broadcast TV for the first time. The tour averaged 1.75 million viewers for Brian Harman’s three-shot win in the Valero Texas Open, while LIV averaged just 484,000 viewers for Marc Leishman’s victory in Miami.
The tour’s number is 260% higher than what LIV drew, even as the Texas Open was down 20% from last year when 2.18 million watched Akshay Bhatia’s playoff win over Denny McCarthy. Sunday’s leaderboard for the PGA Tour was lacking in big names, as Maverick McNealy was the only player in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking to finish inside the top 10 of the tournament. Both this year and last year’s Texas Open went up against the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship (the Texas Open also couldn’t take advantage of the 55% audience decline for the women’s hoops championship).
On LIV, Leishman won by a shot over Charl Schwartzel, but LIV’s early and mid-round leaderboard was stacked with well-known names like Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia and more. LIV’s previous viewership high came for its season opener in 2024, when it drew 432,000 viewers on The CW.
In the same Sunday window on Fox last year, the network drew 205,000 viewers for an MLS match (Timbers-Sporting K.C.) and 849,000 viewers for a UFL game (Roughnecks-Defenders).
Looking at some other competition in the Sunday window this past weekend, CBS had 323,000 viewers for a SailGP telecast, and 356,000 for a USL match (San Antonio FC-Phoenix Rising FC).
Predictably, LIV’s U.S. numbers have been modest to start 2025 as it played its first four events overseas in Saudi Arabia, Australia, China and Singapore.
LIV landing on Fox Sports was a seen as a major win for the tour heading into 2025. CEO Scott O’Neil has consistently pushed that LIV is focused on its global footprint rather than only the U.S., but last week in Miami said its most recent numbers would be important.
“Is this weekend important? Of course, it is. This one is important in the U.S., for the U.S. broadcast, and it’s on Fox, and that’s an exciting opportunity,” he told the Palm Beach Post. “I have no problem being judged. Judge me this week, for sure.”
