Open Championship final round returns lowest ratings since 2015

Last week’s Open Championship was the least watched final round of an Open since 2015’s Monday finish in St Andrews.

According to ratings numbers from NBC, the USA’s broadcaster of the Royal Liverpool showdown, 3.3million people tuned into the final round, where Brian Harman dominated to win the Claret Jug by six shots.

That was around 500,000 more than in 2015, where the tournament ran into Monday in St Andrews, as Zach Johnson beat Marc Leishman and Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff in Fife.

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That made the final round the second most watched sporting event of the weekend, falling approximately two million viewers short of Saturday’s Women’s World Cup match between the USA and Vietnam.

Saturday’s third round of the Open, where Harman asserted his dominance on the final men’s major of the year, drew 2.6million viewers in the USA, making it the fourth most watched sport event of the weekend.

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Last year’s Open Championship, where Cameron Smith beat Cameron Young by a shot to the Claret Jug drew 4.7million viewers, the most since 2018.

NBC draws 3.352M viewers for Brian Harman's six-shot win at @TheOpen on Sunday, per @SportsTVRatings.

That would be the lowest since 2015 (2.851M on ESPN, Monday finish).

Five-year trend:
– 2023: 3.352M
– 2022: 4.725M
– 2021: 4.169M
– 2019: 3.784M
– 2018: 6.475M pic.twitter.com/WgozPpwOFz

— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) July 25, 2023

That 2018 tournament was likely influenced by one man in particular who was in contention, with Tiger Woods finishing three shots behind Francesco Molinari.

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During the final round on Sunday, many took to social media to bemoan a final round that lacked any real fireworks, as the left-hander from Savannah dominated the field, keeping the rest of the star-studded chasing pack at bay.

3.352M for the final round of The Open on NBC (TV-only, no Peacock/NBC Digital) on Sunday. Down 26% from last year's final round (4.551M, also TV-Only, no Peacock/NBC Digital).

— Sports TV Ratings (@SportsTVRatings) July 25, 2023

However, Harman, who has moved inside the top ten of the world rankings, won’t care about viewership ratings.

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“After I made the second bogey yesterday, a guy said ‘Harman, you don’t have the stones for this’,” the 36-year-old explained.

“It helped snap me back. ‘I’m good enough to do this. I’m going to do this.”