The closing stretch of the DP World Tour season seems to have been a big success story, with large increases in broadcast viewers, social media engagement and even on-course attendance.
Rory McIlroy winning his seventh Race To Dubai title obviously captured the imagination, along with his thrilling Irish Open win, Robert MacIntyre winning the Alfred Dunhill Links and Tommy Fleetwood triumphing in India.
The DP World Tour has released the numbers from the final 11 events on the calendar - which included the 'Back 9' and then the two play-off events to conclude the campaign - saying the stats show it was able to "capture fan engagement at an unprecedented level."
Headlining the stats are an impressive 35% increase in the average TV viewers on Golf Channel across those 11 events, compared to 2024 numbers, while in the UK viewing figures on Sky Sports were up 16%.
There was also a big improvement in digital activity, with video views on the DP World Tour social media channels up 34% from last year, impressions up 47% and engagement 54% - while the website saw a 10% increase in traffic.
The 11 events themselves also saw spectator numbers go up slightly from 2024, with over half a million fans attending representing a small two percent rise on last year and seven percent on 2023.
“The DP World Tour is enjoying a period of unprecedented growth in our fan base around the world," said CEO Guy Kinnings.
"As golf’s global Tour, we provided a platform for competitors from 41 nationalities to play events in 26 countries this past season and golf fans are increasingly drawn to the diversity we offer week in, week out.
“Whether it was during our five Global Swings, the Back 9, the DP World Tour Play-Offs, or our flagship Rolex Series tournaments - we managed to capture fan engagement at an unprecedented level."
Irish Open & British Masters the highlights as TV ratings go up
The overall growth in TV figures recorded was solid, with two events in particular registering massive upturns on last year, so all-in-all Kinnings was delighted with the results given how traditional ratings have been an issue for golf as a whole.
"At a time when many sports are struggling to retain viewers on traditional linear television, it is pleasing to see that we are bucking this trend and growing our viewership," Kinnings added.
"After a season full of incredible storylines and history making achievements - notably our Race to Dubai Champion Rory McIlroy winning the career Grand Slam, and a historic win for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup in New York - we start our 2026 season next week in Australia with exceptional momentum.”
The biggest jumps in viewers came at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, and the Amgen Irish Open - with Alex Noren's victory at The Belfry seeing a huge 143% increase in average TV viewers, while McIlroy's dramatic success at the K Club saw an even larger improvement of 193% in average viewership.
McIlroy is always a needle mover and his participation in the closing events, especially after the Ryder Cup, will no doubt have helped in bringing more attention to the DP World Tour.
Fleetwood is also growing in popularity, especially in the USA, so he'll also have helped, while the lack of big names in fields in the FedEx Cup Fall Series events won't have offered any strong competition in terms of viewers.
With a lot of talk about where the DP World Tour fits into the golfing landscape going forward, these figures will give officials great comfort that there's a space for it to thrive.
