Golf witnessed a truly heartwarming family affair in December. Although the tournament saw Bernhard Langer’s team emerge victorious at the end, much of the attention was focused on Tiger Woods and his son Charlie Woods. Moreover, it has even gone ahead to surpass certain events on the PGA Tour and the LPGA Tour, courtesy of the Woods duo.

The women’s circuit this year saw a lot of records being broken, especially at the Solheim Cup. And, with the amount of spotlight that shone on the legend and his kid making their appearance yet again on the greens, curiosity naturally arises. Was it able to fare better than the biennial event, or better yet, fare better than its numbers from the previous year?

The 2023 PNC Championship and its viewership

From the start of the special event, a lot of eyes were on the 82X PGA Tour champ as he made his second emergence in the sport after the Hero World Challenge. And this, undoubtedly, led to many viewers raking up to see the event on television from the comfort of their homes.

As per reports, the PGA Champions Tour event saw a high viewership over the two days that it took place, going as high as 1.2 million on Saturday while dropping to 1.1 million on Sunday. Unfortunately, the recently ended competition was not able to overcome last year’s numbers as it spotted a slight decrease in its viewership as opposed to the same, which boasted 1.5 million on Saturday and 1.2 million in the 2022 final round.

However, if the community were to compare the numbers between the family event and the Solheim Cup this year, one would be able to find a huge contrast. Surprisingly, although viewership of the biennial event peaked on Sky Sports in 2023 at 734,000 on the Sunday singles, it shows a massive difference against the PNC Championship, whose numbers boast almost twice that of the prestigious tournament.

PNC Championship viewership on NBC: 1.1M on Sunday, 1.2M on Saturday.

Both down slightly from last year (1.2M Sunday, 1.5M Saturday), but weather obviously played a factor this weekend

— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) December 19, 2023

It is worthwhile to note the difference between the numbers brought in by an event like the Solheim Cup as opposed to a family affair. Well, one can, without a doubt, attribute the difference in viewership to one thing: the Hall of Famer’s return to the course.

Tiger Woods and his effect on the PNC Championship numbers

The 15X major champ’s comeback into the game in the 2021 edition of the PNC Championship led to many people tuning in to watch the same as it managed to average 2.34 million and 2.24 million on the two days. However, 2022 saw the event witnessing itself as the most watched and highest-rated edition since 2012, all credit to the coming back of Mr. T after his break.

However, it seems the golfer was unable to produce the same effect again this year, as the numbers saw a slight decrease as opposed to 2022. Although the same can be attributed to the weather conditions playing a factor coupled with his already-made comeback at the Hero World Challenge, it is nevertheless a decline in viewership. A happy yet disappointing number!

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