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The PGA Tour saw a slight bump in year-over-year TV ratings for the final round of the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches.
Sunday's broadcast drew 2.514 million viewers, up about 15 percent from 2025's final round number for the same event, according to Josh Carpenter with Sports Business Journal. NBC averaged 1.852 million viewers across its weekend coverage, which had to be altered Saturday when tee times were moved up four hours due to forecasted thunderstorms.
The final round rating is still an encouraging number for the Tour considering how weak the field was. Only one player ranked inside the world's top 30 competed at the Cognizant Classic as the event suffered from a tough spot in the schedule, preceded by back-to-back West Coast signature events and followed by another signature event in this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational. The Tour then heads to the Players Championship next week.
But despite the overall lack of star power, the Cognizant Classic provided the most dramatic final round of the season thus far. Shane Lowry held a three-shot lead with just three holes to play and made two double-bogeys on the closing stretch at PGA National, otherwise known as the Bear Trap. Lowry's collapse opened the door for Nico Echavarria, who made birdie at No. 17 and par on the last to complete the comeback and secure his third career victory on Tour.
More: How to watch the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational
The Cognizant Classic also marked NBC's first PGA Tour broadcast of the year, as CBS had handled the first six events of the season. NBC will remain the network carrier of Tour events for the next month as CBS turns its attention to college basketball's March Madness. CBS will return to golf coverage for the 2026 Masters, which begins April 9.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Cognizant Classic 2026 viewership, PGA Tour TV ratings
Continue reading...
Sunday's broadcast drew 2.514 million viewers, up about 15 percent from 2025's final round number for the same event, according to Josh Carpenter with Sports Business Journal. NBC averaged 1.852 million viewers across its weekend coverage, which had to be altered Saturday when tee times were moved up four hours due to forecasted thunderstorms.
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The final round rating is still an encouraging number for the Tour considering how weak the field was. Only one player ranked inside the world's top 30 competed at the Cognizant Classic as the event suffered from a tough spot in the schedule, preceded by back-to-back West Coast signature events and followed by another signature event in this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational. The Tour then heads to the Players Championship next week.
But despite the overall lack of star power, the Cognizant Classic provided the most dramatic final round of the season thus far. Shane Lowry held a three-shot lead with just three holes to play and made two double-bogeys on the closing stretch at PGA National, otherwise known as the Bear Trap. Lowry's collapse opened the door for Nico Echavarria, who made birdie at No. 17 and par on the last to complete the comeback and secure his third career victory on Tour.
More: How to watch the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational
The Cognizant Classic also marked NBC's first PGA Tour broadcast of the year, as CBS had handled the first six events of the season. NBC will remain the network carrier of Tour events for the next month as CBS turns its attention to college basketball's March Madness. CBS will return to golf coverage for the 2026 Masters, which begins April 9.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Cognizant Classic 2026 viewership, PGA Tour TV ratings
Continue reading...
