PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem Says Ratings Up; No Repeat of 2014 Schedule

Hold up on the doomsday predictions for golf.

PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said Wednesday at the Tour Championship that cumulative audiences for PGA Tour events were up 7-8 percent this year—these measure the number of people who tuned in during a telecast (i.e. the number of unduplicated people or households watching during an entire program).

However, he did say ratings points were down.

"It was kind of a mixed bag," he said. "We attribute that somewhat to Tiger (Woods) not playing and somewhat to the fact that we had very few playoffs this year compared to the last two years. And playoffs really do help our ratings."

Finchem noted that due to the number of hours of televised golf, cumulative ratings make more sense for the PGA Tour and the other tours under its umbrella: the Champions Tour, the Web.com Tour, PGA Tour Canada, PGA Tour Latinoamerica and the relatively new PGA Tour China.

In other words, it’s still successful, even after the economic downturn that has been clawing its way back since 2008. There were tournaments added this season: one on the PGA Tour, two on the Champions Tour and two on the Web.com Tour.

The commissioner noted that he believes golf is on an upswing—not a downswing—and he mentioned the sport is a $70 billion industry.

"When you consider that even after the downturn, the United States enjoys probably having half of the golfers on the planet," he said. "We see real signs of growth and interest at almost every turn."

In addition, charity dollars are strong, with $3-4 billion generated for a variety of charities by the sport.

Finchem also added that 2015 will not have a repeat of the FedExCup schedule being four straight weeks.

"We already know basically the schedule, and there will be a break week."

Phil Mickelson has long been vocal in his opposition to fall's packed schedule, and other players have complained of being tired.

But as Jason Day remarked, "At the end of the day, it's how much you want it more than the other guy. Energy levels may be down, but you gotta do everything you can to win the tournament and, hopefully, win the FedExCup."

Kathy Bissell is a golf writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials from the USGA, PGA Tour or PGA of America.