Scottie Scheffler's dominant FedEx St. Jude Championship victory in Memphis produced massive — some record-breaking — TV viewership numbers.
CBS' broadcast of the final round on Aug. 16 at TPC Southwind averaged 3.786 million viewers (peaking at 4.898 million viewers), becoming the most-watched final round of the opening event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs since 2013, according to the network. The final round was also the most-watched sporting event of the week on any network.
That number represents a marked increase over the 3.6 million that tuned in to NBC for the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship in 2025, which saw Justin Rose outlast J.J. Spaun in a thrilling three-hole playoff.
The third round of this year's FedEx St. Jude Championship
was also a hit with fans, averaging 2.871 million viewers, becoming the most-watched third round of the opening event of the PGA Tour's postseason since the inception of the FedEx Cup Playoffs (2007).
The first two rounds of the FedEx St. Jude Championship (Aug. 13-14) aired on the ESPN family of networks and averaged 424,000 viewers, according to Sports Business Journal's Josh Carpenter — 31,000 more than ESPN's broadcast of the Farmers Insurance Open, which featured Brooks Koepka's return to the PGA Tour.
Scheffler took command at TPC Southwind with a second-round 61, tying the course record. He entered the final round with a two-stroke lead, then finished with a 17-under 263, beating Si Woo Kim by eight strokes — the largest margin of victory on the PGA Tour this season and the largest margin of victory in the 68-year history of professional golf in Memphis.
Scheffler also became the third-youngest golfer in PGA Tour history to reach 21 career victories, behind only Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus.
The next FedEx St. Jude Championship is set for Aug. 12-15, 2027.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com, follow him @munzly on X.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Scottie Scheffler win draws best ratings for opening playoff event since 2013
