It was his second win on Tour. Cameron Davis clinched a victory at the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic. He did so while beating the defending champion, Rickie Fowler at the event. But if one thinks the victory ends there, then they’re sorely wrong. The champ’s win also helped Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour alleviate some of their worries, which arose due to coverage woes over the year.

A report was shared by Josh Carpenter, a reporter for Sports Business Journal, divulging the numbers for the recently concluded tournament at Detroit Golf Club. He mentioned how the tournament was able to rake in more viewers as opposed to its previous edition, recounting Fowler’s unfortunate situation in 2023 despite his scintillating victory.

Cam Davis wins over Rickie Fowler yet again

A total of 2.472 million viewers flocked in front of the TV on Sunday to witness the Australian professional lift the trophy at the Motor City. This, although small, denotes an increase of 1% in the number of people as opposed to the 2023 edition, which saw a figure of 2.450 million. Moreover, this has helped the 2024 Rocket Mortgage Classic’s Sunday round have the highest number of viewers for a non-major or non-signature event of the year.

Davis’s win this time around came as a result of him registering an 18-under 270 with scores of 68-66-66-70. Interestingly, the golfer had carded 23 birdies and 5 bogeys over the four days of play. Out of the same, 4 birdies and 2 bogeys he dished out on the final round of play on Sunday. But Fowler, on the other hand, had holed a total of 28 birdies over the tournament in 2023, five of which came on Sunday, including the one on the playoff hole.

With Fowler’s performance being more dominant than Cam Davis’s 2024 golfing display, the question naturally arises: What caused Sunday to have more views this year? Well, there might be an answer to that too. Sunday’s play was affected by inclement weather, causing it to be shown on tape delay, as a result.

The numbers, meanwhile, indicate good news for the commissioner of the men’s circuit. Much to his misfortune, Monahan had been experiencing coverage and viewership issues for a while now. Cam Davis’s win has helped him ease just that.

Davis’s win is a beacon of hope for Jay Monahan!

Many PGA Tour events this season, including the 2024 Mexico Open and the Valspar Championship, among others, witnessed dismal numbers as opposed to their 2023 iterations. The contest at Vidanta Vallarta saw NBC drawing in only 1.8 million viewers for Jake Knapp’s win on Sunday while the 2023 edition saw 2.3 million viewers tuning into CBS.

The figures denoting a 23% dip in viewership was truly a concerning situation for the circuit as well as its commissioner. Even Rory McIlroy divulged the same in an interview when he said, “If you look at the TV ratings of the PGA TOUR this year, they’re down 20 percent across the board. That’s a fifth, that’s big.” And the reason? The fatigue that the fans are feeling because of the recent drama in men’s golf. One of the reasons why Cam Davis’s win does seem like a beacon of hope for the Tour!