Jordan Spieth’s ugly Back 9 meltdown at Augusta National Golf Club was compelling viewing for Canadian golf fans Sunday, with audiences for the final round of The Masters up 10% over last year, according to preliminary overnight data from Numeris.
More than 1.5 million Canadians watched Sunday’s final round across Bell Media’s CTV, TSN and RDS, with audiences peaking at 2.3 million at 6:31 p.m. – when Danny Willett made his final putt of the tournament and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
The four-day tournament attracted more than 11 million unique Canadian viewers to the three channels, an 8% increase from the 2015 tournament. It is also the most-watched tournament on TSN Digital’s platforms this year, with more than 300,000 video starts.
Bell Media is in the first year of a multi-year deal with Augusta National Golf Club making it the exclusive Canadian broadcaster for The Masters. TSN had previously split the tournament rights with Global Television, which showed the final two rounds on Saturday and Sunday.
Spieth had a five-stroke lead late in Sunday’s final round, but the first quadruple-bogey of his career on the 12th hole opened the door for Willett to become the first Englishman to win the PGA Tour’s most prestigious event since Nick Faldo in 1996.
The Canadian ratings were the exact opposite of those in the U.S., where audiences for the final round fell a reported 11% from last year.
In addition to The Masters, Bell Media’s golf slate includes the U.S. Open, the Open Championship and PGA Championship as well as the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup and other PGA Tour events.
