Dramatic finish can’t save soggy U.S. Open from ratings hit

J.J. Spaun’s dramatic victory wasn’t enough to salvage the television ratings for Sunday’s rain-interrupted final round of the U.S. Open.
The numbers included a 2.4 rating and a Father’s Day audience of 5.4 million viewers on NBC (5.05 million, per Nielsen), down 15 percent in ratings and 8 percent in viewership from the previous year.
The audience peaked at 9 million during the 8 p.m. ET quarter-hour, a decline of more than 20 percent from last year’s peak of 11.4 million (6:15 p.m. ET) to watch Bryson DeChambeau’s U.S. Open win at Pinehurst.
Despite Spaun’s birdie-birdie finish at Oakmont to win his first major by two strokes, it was the lowest-rated and least-watched U.S. Open final round since the COVID-delayed 2020 tournament — which had to compete with NFL coverage.
NBC said the viewership for Sunday’s round was trending up by 6 percent over 2024 prior to the rain delay. The network carried an encore presentation of Tiger Woods’ 2008 triumph at Torrey Pines during the delay.