Golf fans send clear message over PGA Tour-LIV fallout to Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler teamed up to face Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau in ‘The Match’ at Shadow Creek, but the event proved to be a flop in terms of TV ratings

Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler’s showdown with Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau resulted in the second-lowest TV ratings in ‘The Match’ series history, serving as a stark warning to both the PGA Tour and LIV Golf.

The PGA Tour’s McIlroy and Scheffler triumphed over LIV’s Koepka and DeChambeau in Las Vegas, easily outperforming their rivals in the televised matchplay event. Despite the high-profile lineup, the event failed to captivate fans, with Sports Business Journal reporting a mere 625,000 viewers across TNT and TBS in the United States.

This continues the trend of declining viewership numbers in men’s professional golf, with both the PGA Tour and LIV struggling to attract large audiences.

The PGA Tour averaged 2.2 million Sunday viewers for their non-major events in 2024, marking a 19 percent drop from the previous year. Meanwhile, LIV saw an average of just 89,000 viewers for their season finale in Chicago in September on The CW Network, where Jon Rahm clinched the year-long title and a £14.3 million ($18m) prize.

This pattern has persisted over the past two years, leaving the sport divided. Golf enthusiasts appear to be tuning out from the financial tug-of-war between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf, which has been heating up since LIV’s entrance in June 2022. As ‘The Match’ approached this Monday, players were vocal about their hopes for the event to symbolize a unification within the sport.