Golf’s 2025 Masters has attracted strong viewership internationally thanks to strong play across the field and Rory McIlroy’s career Grand Slam-securing triumph
The tournament, which is staged annually at the Augusta National Golf Club in the US, was a major draw for its tense April 13 final round on US broadcaster CBS, which drew a 12.71 million viewer average across that round, which ended in a tie-breaker win for McIlroy.
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That figure is the highest average for a Masters final round since the 13.03 million average of 2018, surpassing even the 12.06 million drawn in 2023 when the event fell on Easter Sunday.
The tie-breaker between McIlroy and Justin Rose saw the viewership peak at 19.54 million, up massively compared to the 12.56 million peak in 2024, showing the wide appeal of watching McIlroy becoming only the sixth person to secure a career Grand Slam, one that was 14 years in the making.
Saturday’s third round also increased year-on-year, up 16% to 7.62 million, as McIlroy battled a packed field that also included LIV Golf’s Bryson DeChambeau and rising Swedish star Ludvig Aberg.
Continued viewership success cements the Masters as golf’s biggest annual draw, with the tournament notching far in excess of even other majors.
Even still, it is a strong bounce back for the tournament after Scottie Scheffler’s 2024 victory fell 20% on Jon Rahm’s win in 2023.
CBS has held domestic broadcast rights for the Masters since 1956, the longest-running single-network broadcast partnership in sport.
In the UK, viewership numbers were also high on pay-TV heavyweight Sky Sports, which peaked in the final round at 1.85 million watchers, 37% of the total TV audience at the time, in what Sky called “record-breaking” viewership.
Sky averaged 1.3 million viewers across April 13, from 6am UK time through 2am the following morning, owing to a combination of Masters coverage, motor racing's Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, and English Premier League soccer that featured heavyweights Liverpool and Manchester United.
Sky stated that April 13 was the most-watched day in Sky Sports history, despite much of the Masters coverage taking place in the late hours of the evening and early morning.
