Dramatic finish can't save soggy U.S. Open from ratings hit

Field Level Media|published: Thu 19th June, 13:02 2025

Jun 15, 2025; Oakmont, Pennsylvania, USA; JJ Spaun celebrates with the championship trophy after winning the 125th U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

J.J. Spaun's dramatic victory wasn't enough to salvage the television ratings for Sunday's rain-interrupted final round of the U.S. Open.

The numbers included a 2.4 rating and a Father's Day audience of 5.4 million viewers on NBC (5.05 million, per Nielsen), down 15 percent in ratings and 8 percent in viewership from the previous year.

The audience peaked at 9 million during the 8 p.m. ET quarter-hour, a decline of more than 20 percent from last year's peak of 11.4 million (6:15 p.m. ET) to watch Bryson DeChambeau's U.S. Open win at Pinehurst.

Despite Spaun's birdie-birdie finish at Oakmont to win his first major by two strokes, it was the lowest-rated and least-watched U.S. Open final round since the COVID-delayed 2020 tournament -- which had to compete with NFL coverage.

NBC said the viewership for Sunday's round was trending up by 6 percent over 2024 prior to the rain delay. The network carried an encore presentation of Tiger Woods' 2008 triumph at Torrey Pines during the delay.

--Field Level Media

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