The RBC Heritage always faced such a difficult task trying to follow The Masters, with the first major of the year delivering one of the all-time great conclusions as Rory McIlroy sealed the career grand slam.
Augusta National provided the stage for one of the best majors in recent memory this month. Rory McIlroy did absolutely everything he could on Sunday to ensure that he did not win the green jacket as he looked to land his first major title in 11 years.
The Northern Irishman had fans on the edge of their seats all day. And his victory in the playoff with Justin Rose allowed him to ride off into the sunset – until the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at least.
McIlroy was the one big name not in the field for the RBC Heritage this past week. And given everything that went on at Augusta, many may have been expecting the event in Hilton Head to be an underwhelming signature event on the PGA Tour.
RBC Heritage breaks record as viewing figures are announced
However, there was more drama at Harbour Town. The likes of Scottie Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood threatened to contend for the title. And there was yet another playoff at the RBC Heritage, with Justin Thomas edging out Andrew Novak.
And it seems that the fans were extremely invested in Thomas’ first win in nearly three years on the PGA Tour.
Taking to X, Josh Carpenter noted that there was a huge rise in viewing figures from last year, while some parts of the coverage saw unprecedented numbers…
The PGA Tour is putting daylight between itself and LIV Golf with recent events
It has definitely been an extremely positive start to the year for the PGA Tour at a time when there remains so much uncertainty surrounding the game at the highest level.
Heading into the Genesis Invitational, it appeared that an agreement was imminent, with Tiger Woods claiming that a deal was close between the PGA Tour and the PIF.
That momentum seems to have evaporated. And the PGA Tour has arguably been given reason for confidence, particularly after the viewing figures from the final weekend before The Masters.
It seemed that LIV Golf had a brilliant opportunity ahead of their event at Doral. It was going up against the Valero Texas Open, which had nothing like the superstar names.
There was no exciting finish at the Valero, while the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm and Sergio García were high up on the leaderboard at Doral. And yet, the viewing figures did not make pretty reading for LIV Golf.
With that, the figures from this past week’s RBC Heritage appears to be another statement from the PGA Tour.
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