LIV Golf’s best chance yet at a competitive Sunday alongside the PGA Tour fell flat last weekend, garnering just 484,000 viewers on Fox for its final round at Trump Doral in Miami. In stark contrast, the PGA Tour averaged 1.75 million viewers for the final round of the Valero Texas Open on NBC, which is more than three times LIV’s audience. This marked the first occasion where both tours competed head-to-head on major broadcast networks in the U.S.
Golf viewership from Sunday
PGA Tour: 1.746M viewers for Brian Harman’s win in the Valero Texas Open (NBC).
LIV Golf: 484,000 for Marc Leishman’s win at LIV Miami (Fox).
— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) April 8, 2025
Despite the disappointing numbers against the PGA Tour, Sunday’s round turned out to be the most-watched in LIV Golf history, surpassing its previous record of 432,000 viewers during its opening event in Mayakoba last season, which aired on The CW. This could be seen as a silver lining; however, it’s telling that even this record-setting audience still fell over a million viewers short of the PGA Tour.
With a favorable television window on one of the largest networks and plenty of star power on its leaderboard—featuring notable players like Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson, and Jon Rahm—LIV Golf had a solid opportunity. In comparison, the PGA Tour’s leaderboard showcased less recognizable names such as Brian Harman, Andrew Novak, and Ryan Gerard. Despite this, the PGA Tour experienced a significant audience decline, down nearly 20% compared to last year’s final playoff round between Akshay Bhatia and Denny McCarthy. The combined viewership of both tours on Sunday would have roughly matched last year’s PGA Tour-only audience.
LIV Golf will have a few more opportunities to go head-to-head with the PGA Tour later in the season, although these PGA fields are likely to feature many more stars. The breakaway tour has scheduled three events that will coincide with the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, where many top players compete. As it stands, LIV Golf’s influence over men’s professional golf appears to be waning, with little indication of a resurgence.
