Europe’s dominating lead heading into the Ryder Cup’s Sunday singles session led to some of the lowest final-day U.S. viewership totals for the event in more than two decades.
The final day, which Europe entered with a commanding 11½-4½ lead, averaged just 3.22 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, a total calculated using Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel and NBC’s Total Audience Delivery methodologies. Sunday peaked at 5.3 million viewers between 5-5:15 p.m. ET as the U.S. made a stirring comeback. Europe eventually won, 15-13.
The previous low for a U.S.-based Ryder Cup over the last 20 years was in 2021 at Whistling Straits, when the U.S. team’s dominant win averaged 3.5 million viewers, though that was without Big Data incorporated. That means Sunday was the least-viewed final day of the Ryder Cup going back to before 2000.
Meanwhile, Europe’s victory garnered strong viewership in the U.K., with Sky Sports reporting a 45 percent increase in average viewing over the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome. READ MORE
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Given the latest round staggering losses reported by LIV Golf’s U.K. entity, it should come as no surprise that the eye-popping contracts that enticed Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka and others to leave the PGA Tour for the Saudi-backed league appear to be a thing of the past.
In an interview with the U.K. website Bunkered published last Wednesday, two-time major winner Martin Kaymer, the captain of LIV Golf’s Cleeks GC team, said the team had drawn “a lot of interest” in its current opening from DP World Tour players but acknowledged that LIV is “done with those big paychecks.”
Kaymer’s remarks were published a day before the Financial Times first reported that LIV Golf’s U.K. entity lost nearly $500 million last year, according to accounts filed at U.K. Companies House last week. Saudi-owned LIV Golf Ltd. posted a net loss of $461.8 million in 2024, up from $395 million in 2023 and $243 million in the 18 months to the end of 2022, according to the filings.
Although the U.K. entity has lost more than $1.1 billion since it was established in 2021, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund has provided it with a letter of financial support, according to a directors’ report cited by the Financial Times. The filings do not include LIV Golf’s U.S. activities, the newspaper’s report noted.
Meanwhile, former LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman reflected on his stormy time at the helm in an interview with Australian Golf Digest. “I enjoyed my time at LIV,” the Shark said in part. “But I’ll be honest with you, it was hard. It was very draining on me. I was working 100-hour weeks. I’m not going to say all the abuse was anything [of consequence], but what hurt me the most was the lack of understanding of why people would judge me and give the abuse they did.” READ MORE
The 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale, nicknamed “The Coliseum,” will debut a brand-new hospitality structure in 2026 designed to improve the fan experience while advancing the tournament’s sustainability goals, WM Phoenix Open organizers announced last week.
Construction is already underway on what tournament chairman Jason Eisenberg called “the nicest temporary structure ever built.” The redesign features wider interior bays, higher ceilings, frameless glass railings and modern finishes. The new structure will add a fourth story, Eisenberg added, providing room for even more fans at the iconic hole. Spectators will also be able to purchase individual hospitality tickets at 16 for the first time.
“I think it’s just a continued evolution of 16,” Eisenberg said. “Sixteen in its previous self kind of hit its ceiling of what it could be. And I think what we’ve done is really elevated the structure, which allowed us to elevate everything – allowed us to elevate the viewing experience for both patrons that have suites as well as the [general] admission.” READ MORE
Tap-Ins
Eight-time PGA Tour winner and 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink is interested in being the next U.S. Ryder Cup captain, he told Golfweek ahead of last week’s PGA Tour Champions stop in Jacksonville, Florida. READ MORE
European Solheim Cup captain Anna Nordqvist has named the Netherlands’ Anne van Dam as a vice captain for the 2026 Solheim Cup, joining Sweden’s Caroline Hedwall and England’s Mel Reid. READ MORE
Compiled by Mike Cullity