McIlroy’s Masters Audience

Rory McIlroy’s second straight Masters win gave CBS its biggest final-round audience from Augusta National since 2015, with 13.995 million viewers on Sunday. (publicnow.com) CBS said the telecast peaked at 20.049 million viewers during the closing quarter-hour, when McIlroy finished the round. The network’s audience was up 8% from the 12.71 million who watched his 2025 playoff win over Justin Rose. (publicnow.com) (frontofficesports.com) McIlroy won the 2026 Masters on April 12 for his sixth major title and became the fourth player to win back-to-back green jackets, joining Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods. Augusta National said he was making his 18th Masters start. (masters.com) (pgatour.com) The audience jump extended a two-year surge for the Masters on CBS. Sports Media Watch reported that McIlroy’s 2025 win averaged about 12.99 million viewers, up sharply from Scottie Scheffler’s 9.59 million in 2024. (sportsmediawatch.com) That run tracks with the kind of finish television executives want: a familiar star, a tight Sunday leaderboard and late-round drama. Front Office Sports said McIlroy’s 2025 playoff pushed the broadcast to a 19.54 million peak, and CBS’s 2026 audience climbed higher still. (frontofficesports.com) (publicnow.com) The 2026 number was the most-watched Masters final round since Jordan Spieth’s first major in 2015, when CBS also drew about 14 million viewers. Sports Media Watch said the 2026 telecast was the highest-rated final round since Patrick Reed won in 2018, even though the bigger benchmark was total viewers. (sportsmediawatch.com) (publicnow.com) McIlroy’s position in golf also changed over those two Aprils. Augusta National said his 2025 Masters win completed the career Grand Slam after an 11-year major drought, and his 2026 repeat moved him alongside Faldo, Lee Trevino and Phil Mickelson on six professional majors. (masters.com) The result for CBS was a rare sports TV number outside football that approached 20 million viewers at its peak. Two straight McIlroy Sundays turned the Masters from a strong spring event into one of the biggest live audiences on television. (publicnow.com) (frontofficesports.com)