Jay Monahan seems to be running out of his last ray of hope. After a momentary relief in the form of the 33% spike in TV ratings on the first day of the Valero Texas Open earlier in April, the PGA Tour Commissioner’s worst nightmare seems to have returned as the numbers from CJ Cup Bryon Nelson see the light of day.

It has been revealed that, in light of the spree of withdrawals and comparatively compromised field, among other reasons, CBS drew only 1.757 million viewers on Sunday at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson’s final round. This is a 24% downgrade from last year’s edition of the event, which received 2.326 million viewers. The 2023 edition was a downgrade from the year preceding it, as K.H. Lee’s win with a one-stroke lead over Jordan Spieth in the 2022 edition received a whopping 2.848 million viewers.

Sadly for Jay Monahan, this dip in viewer counts comes after the Tour invested $930 million as part of the equity scheme for the players to award them for their loyalty and attract more viewers to make the game more interesting. However, it seems that this almost billion-dollar investment was for nothing. Amongst the recipients of the equity are Tiger Woods, who will be getting $100 million, McIlroy will get $50 million, and Justin Thomas and Spieth are likely to get $30 million each.

Despite their persistent struggles to bounce back from this nightmare, Jay Monahan and Co. continue to falter in uniting the golf world. The unprecedented delay is one of the many reasons why the viewer count is hitting new lows, calling into question the top voices on both ends of the golf world. As per the Northern Irishman, “If you look at the TV ratings of the PGA Tour this year, they’re down 20% across the board. That’s a fifth. That’s big.” 

A similar reality was witnessed by the 2024 Masters, which drew only 9.58 million viewers to TV, the “Granddaddy of them all majors” worst rating since 1993, barring two COVID years. Rory McIlroy was one player who rightly guessed the sign of the times and warned off the PGA Tour.

Rolling back to Rory McIlroy’s primitive warning that went unheard by the PGA Tour

The Northern Irishman perceptively warned off the Tour and highlighted the need for unification if Jay Monahan and Co. intend a resurgence regarding TV ratings. “It will be really interesting to see how the major championship numbers fare compared to the other bigger events because if the numbers are better and you’ve got all the best players in the world playing, then there’s an argument to say, ‘OK, we need to get this thing back together,’” said McIlroy.

The golfer’s worry did not end there. He firmly believes in bringing everyone back together for the sake of the betterment of the sport. “The numbers aren’t as good, it’s an argument to still say we need to put everyone back together because people are losing interest in the game if they don’t [even] want to tune in to the four major championships.”

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According to him, the continued delay and the entire LIV Golf vs. PGA Tour feud have led to fatigue among the game’s loyal fan populace. Before the Master viewership count shock, McIlroy said, “I just think with the fighting and everything that’s went on over the past couple of years, people are just getting really fatigued of it, and it’s turning people off men’s professional golf. That’s not a good thing for anyone.” 

Even though McIlroy’s warning went unheard during the week at the Augusta National Golf Club, the consequences of which continue to linger, it remains to be seen if any changes will be made before the rest of the major championship or not.