Tiger Woods' Win Increases Tour Championship Ratings 206 Percent over Last Year

Tiger Woods won his first major in five years Sunday at the Tour Championship, and unsurprisingly, many Americans tuned in to watch. 

According to Golf Channel, the final round coverage drew a 5.21 overnight rating, which was a 206 percent growth from the same event last year. It was also the highest-rated non-major of the PGA Tour season and the biggest audience ever to watch a FedEx Cup playoffs event, which began in 2007.

"Tiger Woods’ win at the Tour Championship was an unforgettable event in golf," President of Golf at NBC Sports Group Mike McCarley said. "The massive gallery following Tiger up the 18th fairway was matched by record viewership across NBC Sports’ platforms. Golf is experiencing a surge in momentum with Tiger and the young stars of the Tiger-inspired generation atop leaderboards. We look forward to this momentum continuing this week at the Ryder Cup."

According to Golf Channel, users also streamed 18.4 million minutes of the final round on NBC's digital platforms, a 561 percent increase over 2017.

The excitement for Woods was seen throughout the final day in the gallery, and especially behind him walking down the 18th fairway:

Scott Van Pelt of ESPN summed up the excitement:

Back injuries limited Woods throughout the past five years and he was effectively out of the sport for the past two, only competing in a single PGA Tour tournament. However, he returned this season and he brought a lot of viewers with him.

The 42-year-old was competitive at the British Open and briefly held a lead in Round 4 before tying for sixth place, and it led to a 37 percent ratings boost compared to last year. Ratings for the PGA Championship jumped 73 percent from last season as Woods finished second.

While there are other big stars across golf like Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, no one brings people to their screens quite like Tiger Woods.