A peak of nine million people watched JJ Spaun hole an incredible 65-foot putt to win the US Open via a TV on Sunday, according to figures provided by Sports Business Journal's Josh Carpenter.
However, an average figure of just 5.4 million tuned in for the rest of the final round, with a 90-minute weather delay midway through Sunday's action causing a 6% hit (circa 325,000 people).
Should the dangerous weather front not have appeared, the final round would theoretically have been the third most-watched US Open in the past six years.
As it was, on the 10th occasion that Oakmont Country Club hosted the US Open Championship, only Bryson DeChambeau's Winged Foot success in 2020 (3.2m) proved to be less popular since Brooks Koepka's Shinnecock Hills win in 2018 (5.088m).
Looking back at Pinehurst No.2 last year, an average of 5.9 million watched on TV as DeChambeau took advantage of Rory McIlroy's late collapse to secure his second Major title.
NBC draws 5.4M viewers for JJ Spaun's win in the @usopengolf on Sunday (excluding the weather delay). That's down from 5.9M last year (DeChambeau). Peaked at 9.0M as Spaun finished up.Viewership was up 6% before the delay.Here's the audience trend going back to 2015. pic.twitter.com/MkfXm03sewJune 17, 2025
A mixed final-round leaderboard at Oakmont that featured Major champions, LIV golfers, Ryder Cup stars and PGA Tour winners - combined with a brutal test of golf for all those involved - likely led to strong interest over the first half of Sunday prior to a storm that helped very few aside from Spaun.
Once the players returned to an extremely soggy course, TV channels had been switched over - although it should be pointed out that the aforementioned numbers do not include those streaming via phones, laptops or tablets.
Interest returned down the stretch once fans discovered there was a five-way and subsequent four-way tie for the lead, with the peak number recorded as Spaun navigated the 72nd hole.
As might be expected, Spaun's US Open triumph slotted into second place in terms of TV ratings when compared to the first two men's Majors of the year.
McIlroy's memorable Masters win scored an average of 12.7 million viewers on CBS while reaching an astonishing peak number of 19.543 million. Sunday's final round was the most-watched golf telecast on any network in the past seven years.
Meanwhile, the PGA Championship attracted an average TV figure of 4.76 million during the closing stages of Scottie Scheffler's victory at Quail Hollow.
That was down 4% from Xander Schauffele's tense win over DeChambeau at Valhalla and also reflected what was a disappointing week generally with ratings down across all three days of the season's second Major.
Per SBJ, round one averaged 955,000 viewers - 13% down from 2024 - while Friday's action generated 1.3 million which was down 19% from the previous edition.
Generally, on the PGA Tour, ratings have been steadily improving this year with many of the biggest tournaments increasing TV numbers. The Genesis Invitational, Players Championship and RBC Heritage all saw upticks, and so did a number of regular tour events as well.
According to Sports Illustrated, there was a six-tournament run between the Mexico Open and Valero Texas Open which saw an increase in NBC's final-round ratings from last year - a pattern which has largely continued through the midst of Major season.
