LIV Golf's television coverage was outdone again by World’s Funniest Animals as the Saudi-backed series saw their television coverage go from bad to worse.
High profile LIV Golf rebels failed to produce the goods at the Tucson event with Bryson DeChambeau, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Graeme McDowell all outside the top-40 in the restricted field of 48 players.
Former Ryder Cup star Sergio Garcia shot seven-under par which was two shots off the four-way lead while Dustin Johnson was a further two shots back. There was a dramatic finish to decide the second-round winner with Danny Lee triumphing from a four-way play-off to scoop the £3.27million ($4m) first prize.
However, with the high profile LIV Golf stars failing to match their price-tags television ratings were again down. Golf reporter Kevin Van Valkenburg tweeted: "LIV Golf ratings for the Tucson event. According to a source, it scored a 0.14 overnight rating in 33 markets from Saturday."
LIV Golf chief Greg Norman hailed a "momentous day" for his series when it was announced earlier this year that the series had signed its first ever US TV deal with the CW network. However, at the season opener in Mayakoba the series ranked 0.2 in the television ratings, which was less than “World’s Funniest Animals” - another CW show.
The exact worldwide viewing figures for the second round are yet to be announced as fans outside of the US use the LIV Golf app and website to stream their events. Despite the apparent flop of the first event in Mexico LIV Golf chiefs claimed that they had a "great TV debut".
Data from audience measurement provider iSpot, CW and LIV showed that their coverage had a total audience of 3.2million viewers.
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The opening event of 2023 had Saturday broadcast figures of 1.6 million people on linear television, CW affiliates and Nexstar stations, while over 1.3million watched Sunday's finale.
“Our first weekend of live coverage for the 2023 LIV Golf season exceeded expectations,” Will Staeger, LIV Golf’s chief media officer said. “LIV has diversified its consumption model, tailoring our distribution to the way viewers consume their content – and these numbers reflect the new ways that sports are watched."
