This year’s PGA Championship was one of the wildest major championships we have seen in recent memory.
Sunday’s climax might have lacked the hole-to-hole drama of some of the best major championships ever played, but with one round to play, around 20 golfers were in with a real chance of winning the Wanamaker Trophy.
And in the end, we had an immensely popular winner, as Aaron Rai claimed victory over the likes of Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy on Sunday with a 31 on the back nine. He claimed his first major championship and immediately won the hearts of the golfing world with the humility and respect he showed the game.
And as a testament to golf’s rising popularity in recent years, the PGA Championship set a five-year viewership record on the final day of the tournament.
How many people watched the final day of the 2026 PGA Championship
CBS Sports recently announced that an average of 5.8 million people watched Sunday’s final round at Aronimink, with coverage peaking at over 8 million viewers. That is up 21% from last year’s championship at Quail Hollow, where Scottie Scheffler won his first Wanamaker Trophy.
In the hour when Rai finished his final round, 7.8 million viewers were tuned in to the broadcast.
This was the most-watched final round of the PGA Championship in five years, since Phil Mickelson became the oldest-ever major winner at Kiawah Island.
Meanwhile, on ESPN, the other American broadcaster to show the PGA Championship, an average of 1.7 million viewers tuned in, up 49% from 2025.
This was the most-watched PGA Championship on ESPN since Collin Morikawa won at TPC Harding Park in 2020.
Overall, this event was a resounding success in terms of overall viewership.
Why CBS’ viewership numbers are bad news for Bryson DeChambeau
These figures are awful news for Bryson DeChambeau, who is currently trying to prove his worth to the PGA Tour. With LIV Golf’s Saudi funding ending this season, DeChambeau is in negotiations with the tour about a potential return, but this won’t help one bit.
DeChambeau has been told that he’ll need to agree to a deal similar to the one offered to Brooks Koepka if he wants to come back, but DeChambeau called that a shame, claiming he could do a lot for the tour.
In theory, DeChambeau’s online following of over 2 million YouTube subscribers would bring in a large audience for the tour, but these PGA Championship viewership figures suggest otherwise.
DeChambeau missed the cut at Aronimink, but the audience didn’t seem to care. They still pulled in a massive viewership, not seen at this event in five years.
That’s a major blow to DeChambeau’s case that the PGA Tour needs him, and he’s lost yet more leverage in these negotiations.
