Masters Tournament Viewership On The Upswing With 33% Growth For Final Round As Rory McIlroy Seals First Win

A sizable audience tuned in to watch as Rory McIlroy captured his first green jacket during the final round of the Masters tournament on Sunday.

Per CBS Sports, Sunday’s telecast averaged 12.7M viewers, making it not only the most-watched final round of the Masters since 2018 but the most-watched golf telecast at all during that time span. The audience was up 33% from last year.

Viewership peaked at 19.5M during the 7:00 – 7:15 p.m. ET time frame, which is right around the time that McIlroy headed into the playoff round with runner up Justin Rose.

The Masters tournament also performed well on streaming, handing Paramount+ its largest non-NFL sports day ever. Viewership for this year’s tournament saw triple digit growth over last year’s on the streamer.

The third round of the tournament was also up 16% this year, drawing 7.6M viewers on Saturday.

This is a stellar result for CBS after it has struggled in the last few years to bring eyeballs to the Masters. Last year’s final round drew 9.59M, down 20% year-over-year, though it’s worth noting that it aired on Easter Sunday, which certainly contributed to that number. In 2022, 10.17M tuned in for the final round.

Slowly but surely, the Masters appear to be clawing their way back to the viewership of a decade ago, when 14M watched Jordan Spieth’s win.