Final Round Of U.S. Open Draws Highest Ratings In Five Years As Millions Tune-In To See Dramatic Finish

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While the 2023 U.S. Open lacked actual fans on the property at Los Angeles Country Club, that isn't to say golf fans at home didn't tune into the third major championship of the year. According to a report, this year's U.S. Open drew the highest TV ratings since 2019.

Sports Business Journal's Josh Carpenter shared that NBC/Peacock drew 6.2 million viewers during Sunday's final round. That's an 80,000 uptick in viewership compared to last year's tournament, which was won by Matt Fitzpatrick.

The most telling numbers to compare are this year's compared to 2021 and 2019 as both of those years the U.S. Open was contested on the West Coast as well. Gary Woodland's win at Pebble Beach in '19 still reigns supreme with 7.3 million viewers, but Wyndham Clark's victory on Sunday topped Jon Rahm's win at Torrey Pines two years ago.

The leaderboard heading into Sunday certainly helped the viewership numbers with Rickie Fowler co-leading the tournament and the likes of Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler playing chaser as well.

READ: U.S. OPEN PARTING THOUGHTS: GIVE WYNDHAM CLARK HIS RESPECT, BLIND CONFIDENCE IN RORY MCILROY, THE USGA’S LACK OF AWARENESS, AND LACC BEING OVER HYPED

Clark brought his A-game to the stage on Sunday, while Fowler did not have his best stuff. McIlroy wasn't able to get anything going, which is becoming a trend for him on major Sundays, carding 16 pars on the afternoon thanks to an ice-cold putter.

While Clark may not have been a fan-favorite for the majority of golf fans this past weekend, he certainly won't mind it, and NBC won't mind its strong viewership numbers he helped bring to the table.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.