Tag: LIV Golf Tucson

Report: Viewership on the CW drops for LIV Golf Tucson event

Sports Business Journal also reported CW affiliates kept LIV Golf off the air for 29 million homes in the U.S.

The viewership reports are starting to roll through for the second LIV Golf League event of the season, and early numbers aren’t great for the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit.

The Sports Business Journal, citing a source with numbers from Nielsen, reported last week’s LIV Golf Tucson event had an average of 274,000 viewers on the CW for Sunday’s final round from Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona, after an average of 284,000 viewers for Saturday’s second round. At LIV Golf Mayakoba, the season opener last month, the CW averaged 286,000 viewers for Saturday’s second round and 291,000 for Sunday’s final round. Friday’s opening rounds are only available via the CW app and other digital streams.

Outside of the viewership, the SBJ report also claimed that 24 percent of homes – or 29 million – in the United States were unable to watch LIV Golf Tucson on television because their local CW affiliate did not carry the coverage in the 1-6 p.m. ET window.

LIV Golf plans to release its own data on viewership later this week, which will predictably look different from the SBJ report citing just Nielsen numbers. The same thing happened with the Mayakoba viewership.

The league signed a multi-year revenue-sharing TV deal with the CW in January that will see its events be distributed across both not just CW affiliates, but also various Nexstar properties. It’s unclear how many watched on Nexstar stations or whether any Nexstar outlets carried LIV Golf Tucson in areas where CW affiliates elected not to. Competing with the opening weekend of the NCAA basketball tournaments surely doesn’t help the viewership numbers, either.

It’s also important to note which numbers are used in television reports. LIV reported 3.2 million total viewers across the three days in its season opener, while the Nielsen numbers cited above are average-minute audience, the industry standard. LIV is also using iSpot, a TV ad measurement and analytics company that offers a different way to measure viewership compared to Nielsen ratings.

LIV Golf will next head to Florida for its third event, March 31-April 2 at Orange County National in Orlando.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=451198867]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01f5k5vfbhv59szck1 image=]

2023 LIV Golf Tucson prize money payouts for each player and team

Lee took home $4 million for the individual win and led Iron Heads GC to a third-place team finish worth $500,000.

Danny Lee is already a winner in just his second LIV Golf League start.

The 32-year-old survived a three-hole, four-man playoff to win for the first time since 2015 on the PGA Tour at the 2023 LIV Golf Tucson event at Gallery Golf Club in Marana, Arizona. For his efforts, Lee will take home the top prize of $4 million, almost a quarter of his career earnings on the PGA Tour ($15,979,537).

The trio of runners-up – Louis Oosthuizen, Brendan Steele and Carlos Ortiz –will each take home $1,558,333. Charles Howell III, who at one point led during the final round, rounds out the top five and leaves with $975,000 for his efforts.

Check out how much each player and team earned at LIV Golf’s second event of its 2023 season.

LIV Golf Tucson individual prize money

Position Player Score Earnings
1 Danny Lee -9 $4,000,000
T2 Louis Oosthuizen -9 $1,558,333
T2 Brendan Steele -9 $1,558,333
T2 Carlos Ortiz -9 $1,558,333
5 Charles Howell III -8 $975,000
T6 Sergio Garcia -7 $670,000
T6 Kevin Na -7 $670,000
T6 Matt Jones -7 $670,000
T6 Mito Pereira -7 $670,000
T10 Peter Uihlein -6 $516,667
T10 Branden Grace -6 $516,667
T10 Matthew Wolff -6 $516,667
T13 Pat Perez -5 $270,400
T13 Marc Leishman -5 $270,400
T13 Dustin Johnson -5 $270,400
T13 Cameron Tringale -5 $270,400
T13 Talor Gooch -5 $270,400
T18 Patrick Reed -4 $223,000
T18 Sam Horsfield -4 $223,000
T20 Bubba Watson -3 $180,500
T20 Scott Vincent -3 $180,500
T20 Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra -3 $180,500
T20 David Puig -3 $180,500
T24 Paul Casey -2 $163,000
T24 Richard Bland -2 $163,000
T24 Brooks Koepka -2 $163,000
T24 Harold Varner III -2 $163,000
T24 Cameron Smith -2 $163,000
T24 Abraham Ancer -2 $163,000
T30 Phil Mickelson -1 $154,000
T30 Anirban Lahiri -1 $154,000
T30 Laurie Canter -1 $154,000
T33 Ian Poulter E $148,000
T33 Dean Burmester E $148,000
T33 Thomas Pieters E $148,000
T36 Jason Kokrak +1 $140,000
T36 Bernd Wiesberger +1 $140,000
T36 Sebastian Munoz +1 $140,000
T36 Chase Koepka +1 $140,000
T36 Joaquin Niemann +1 $140,000
41 Graeme McDowell +2 $134,000
42 Henrik Stenson +3 $132,000
43 Lee Westwood +5 $130,000
T44 Bryson DeChambeau +7 $127,000
T44 James Piot +7 $127,000
46 Charl Schwartzel +8 $124,000
47 Jediah Morgan +9 $122,000
48 Sihwan Kim +19 $120,000

LIV Golf Tucson team prize money

Place Team Score Earnings
1 Fireballs GC -25 $3 million
2 4 Aces GC -21 $1.5 million
3 Iron Heads GC -19 $500,000

LIV owns a 75 percent stake in each franchise and provided teams with an undisclosed amount of operating capital for the year. The teams are expected to largely run on their own dime this season, with team prize earnings going directly towards its day-to-day costs.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4 category=451198867]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01f5k5vfbhv59szck1 image=]

Danny Lee wins LIV Golf Tucson via four-way playoff for first win since 2015 on PGA Tour

The win is Lee’s first on the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit.

LIV Golf Tucson went to a four-way playoff Sunday evening, and it was Danny Lee who emerged from the pack after three extra holes.

The 32-year-old from New Zealand defeated Carlos Ortiz, Louis Oosthuizen and Brendan Steele in a playoff at the Gallery Club in Marana, Arizona, and will leave with not just the trophy, but also the $4 million top prize. The win is Lee’s first in just his second start since joining the LIV Golf League this year. He previously hadn’t won since 2015 at the PGA Tour’s Greenbrier Classic.

On the team side of things, Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC ran away with the team title at 25 under to win by four shots over last year’s champion 4 Aces GC, captain by Dustin Johnson, who finish runner-up for the second time in as many events this season. Kevin Na’s Iron Heads finished third at 19 under. The Fireballs earned $3 million, while the Aces will take home $1.5 million and the Iron Heads $500,000.

The league led by Greg Norman and financially backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is back in action for its third event in 2023 at Orange County National in Orlando, March 31-April 2.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=451198867]

[mm-video type=playlist id=01es6rjnsp3c84zkm6 player_id=01f5k5vfbhv59szck1 image=]