PGA Tour’s horrible ratings slump ends as Travelers Championship amasses whopping 7-figure viewership with Keegan Bradley's win

The PGA Tour has been in a ratings battle for months, and Keegan Bradley's triumph at the Travelers Championship may be its knight in shining armor. The US team's Ryder Cup captain secured a thrilling victory, which marked a huge increase in viewers.

The CBS coverage of the Travelers Championship's final round averaged 3.519 million viewers, peaking with 5.435 million viewers. It was the final Signature Event of the season, and it marked a big win for the Tour on television. The CBS-covered Signature Events got 19% more viewers than they did in 2024.

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The Travelers was a big reason for this. The final round was the second-most viewed Travelers Championship finale in over two decades, per CBS. This event was a pretty big one every year, and this was the year fans decided to tune in more than ever before.

This year, and in the past few years, the PGA Tour has seen a dramatic drop in viewership. Fans aren't tuning in like they used to be, and there are a variety of possible reasons. For the most part, the ratings still haven't been great this year all around.

LIV Golf's arrival on the scene doesn't help. Not only did LIV poach some big names like Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, and Bryson DeChambeau, but it also holds its own events (often at similar times), and fans generally can't and don't watch both.

Additionally, partly because of LIV, the added money in golf has turned off some fans. The astonishing prize purses and general sense of greed in the sport have forced some to stop watching recently.

However, with Keegan Bradley coming back to pip Tommy Fleetwood and stop the Englishman from getting his first career win, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel for this never-ending TV ratings war.

Travelers win by Keegan Bradley was monumental in many ways

The home crowd loved seeing the local star, Keegan Bradley, surge past the opposition on the 18th hole Sunday at the Travelers. Fans might've tuned in to see if Tommy Fleetwood could finally get a win, but they stayed to see a dramatic, shocking conclusion.

Keegan Bradley's win was huge for CBS (Image via Imagn)

Per the reports, there were quite a few who tuned in. As mentioned, it was the second-most watched finale in the 22-year history of this iconic tournament. That's not all, though. It was up 35% from last year's finale, which saw Scottie Scheffler beat Tom Kim in a thrilling playoff.

Sunday's round was CBS' best since 2021. In general, CBS' golf coverage is up 13% from last year and is having its best year since 2018, which seems like a lifetime ago, with how much the sport has changed.

In the history of Paramount+, no one has streamed a Travelers Championship more than in 2025, so it was a big win across the board for the network.

About the author

Zachary is a journalist covering NFL, Professional Golf, esports, and Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda. He has a degree in writing/editing from Southern Adventist University (USA), and in his spare time, he likes to play games such as Minecraft, Pokémon and Fortnite, or watch sports.

Ever since he was a youth football wide receiver, Zachary has been an avid NFL fan. He loves the Carolina Panthers, with Cam Newton being his all-time favorite player (with respect to the close second, Steve Smith). If you ever meet Zachary, prepare to hear all about how underrated Newton was and how he single-handedly dragged the Panthers to Super Bowl 50.

Zachary is also a big fan of top golfers like Tiger Woods, Wyndham Clark, and Scottie Scheffler. He enjoys watching them and hopes that Woods can return to form soon and win again.

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Edited by Tushar Bahl