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Golf

Tiger Woods' return led to a massive television ratings boost in America

The performances of Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and many more have mea...



Tiger Woods' return led to...
Golf

Tiger Woods' return led to a massive television ratings boost in America

The performances of Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and many more have meant that Tiger Woods' absence from golf had not been as heavily missed as it may have been.

Woods returned to the course last weekend, when he competed at the Hero World Challenge in The Bahamas. Despite the tournament not having an influence of the global golf calendar, the 40-year-old's inclusion meant the tournament was one of the most popular of the year.

According to American golf journalist Geoff Shackelford, Woods' inclusion in the tournament, mean American viewers watched in numbers far greater than was expected.

Shackelford claims that Woods' appearance gave the Golf Channel some of their best viewing numbers of the year. Comparted to Day 1 of the same tournament in 2015, viewing numbers were up by 190%. Apart from The Open and the Ryder Cup, the channel failed to have bigger numbers on the opening day of an event.

The tournament was shown on NBC at the weekend and saw a year-on-year increase of 92% (Saturday) and 52% (Sunday) for the channel compared to 2015.

He may be 40, and is past his physical peak, but Tiger Woods is still undoubtedly the biggest draw in golf. That doesn't look like changing any time soon.

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