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PGA Championship 2018: The Tiger Woods Effect is real, as television ratings are up 54 percent at Bellerive
Jamie Squire
ST. LOUIS—American viewers missed most of Friday's scoring barrage, while U.K. fans haven't seen the PGA Championship, period. To a lesser event, these would be major roadblocks. Thanks to Tiger Woods, they don't even register as obstacles.
According to CBS, ratings from third round at Bellerive saw a 54 percent increase compared to Saturday at Quail Hollow last year.
The average household MM rating was a 3.9, with the broadcast owning a 9 share. Those are the highest figures for a Saturday round at the PGA Championship since 2009, when Woods was in contention at Hazeltine. Unfortunately for CBS, they didn't make the most of the opportunity, with the telecast littered with mistakes throughout the afternoon.
That the PGA has garnered such numbers is not surprising. The Open Championship, which also featured Tiger on the leader board coming down the stretch, saw its best ratings since 2000. Woods may not be the same player as yesteryear, but the man clearly knows how to draw a crowd.
Woods will begin his fourth round four shots back of leader Brooks Koepka. It is his first appearance in the final round of a PGA since 2013.