Masters drew 13.2M
The final round of the 2026 Masters averaged 13.2 million viewers on CBS, marking the most‑watched golf telecast since the 2019 Masters and underscoring heavy audience interest in the closing leaderboard. (sports.yahoo.com)
CBS drew nearly 14 million viewers for the 2026 Masters final round, its biggest Sunday audience for the tournament in 11 years. (sports.yahoo.com) CBS said the Sunday telecast averaged 13.995 million viewers and peaked at 20.049 million during Rory McIlroy’s second straight win at Augusta National. The network said the peak was the largest Masters audience since 2013. (sports.yahoo.com) Sports Business Journal reported the final-round average was up 8% from 2025. Last year’s Masters final round averaged about 12.7 million viewers when McIlroy beat Justin Rose in a playoff to win his first green jacket. (si.com) (sports.yahoo.com) The jump came without Tiger Woods in the story line that usually drives golf’s biggest television numbers. Instead, CBS got a repeat champion, a major title defense at Augusta, and a leaderboard that kept viewers through the closing stretch. (frontofficesports.com) (sports.yahoo.com) That extends a rebound that started in 2025, when McIlroy’s playoff win produced the most-watched Masters final round since 2018. In 2024, Scottie Scheffler’s four-shot victory drew about 9.6 million viewers, well below the last two years. (sportsmediawatch.com) (sports.yahoo.com) The 2026 figure also reflects a change in measurement. CBS and outlets that cited the network said this year’s number used Nielsen Big Data + Panel, while the 2025 comparison did not include Big Data in the same way. (golfdigest.com) (si.com) The Masters remains one of the few golf events that can still pull a mass audience on broadcast television, especially when Sunday stays close late. This year’s 20 million-plus peak showed that Augusta National still delivers appointment viewing when the finish holds up. (frontofficesports.com) (sports.yahoo.com)
