U.S. Open Ratings Take Expected Dip With JJ Spaun's Rain-Delayed Win At Oakmont
This year's U.S. Open was also missing the likes of Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy, DeChambeau, and other well-known names at the top of the board.
Ratings for the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont are in, and they're down a bit compared to ratings we saw from Bryson DeChambeau's win at last year's championship held at Pinehurst.
The dip in ratings was expected with a relatively unknown JJ Spaun ultimately finding the winner's circle after a rain delay during Sunday's final round that suspended play for more than 90 minutes.
NBC and Peacock combined to average 5.4 million viewers during the final round, according to Front Office Sports. That number of 5.4 million is a little more than an 8 percent drop from last year's final round ratings, which averaged 5.9 million viewers.
Complete four-round U.S. Open coverage on linear channels NBC and USA Network averaged 2.9 million viewers, a slight drop from the 3.1 million average reported a year ago. This year's U.S. Open, held just outside of Pittsburgh, was the second-most-watched East Coast U.S. Open since 2013, which was won by Justin Rose at Merion.
JJ Spaun credited a perfectly-timed rain delay after winning the 2025 U.S. Open. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Spaun captured a two-shot victory over runner-up Robert MacIntyre at Oakmont, with third best being Viktor Hovland. In 2024, DeChambeau battled Rory McIlroy down the stretch at Pinehurst No. 2.
Oakmont, being one of the most well-known and diabolical U.S. Open anchor sites, drew in plenty of viewers on its own, especially when Mother Nature showed up on Sunday afternoon. Nevertheless, the casual golf fan who contributes a significant amount to the ratings tends to gravitate to star-packed leaderboards, and this year's U.S. Open was missing the likes of Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy, DeChambeau, and other well-known names at the top of the board.