CBS notches most-watched Masters final round in 11 years

Rory McIlroy is the gift that keeps on giving for CBS Sports.

For the second consecutive year, McIlroy’s green jacket win earned CBS a multiyear viewership high for the final round of the Masters. Sunday’s final round coverage averaged 13.995 million viewers on CBS, up 8% versus last year’s final round which saw McIlroy complete the career grand slam in a playoff against Justin Rose (12.71 million viewers). It’s the most-watched Masters final round since 2015, when Jordan Spieth’s win barely edged out Sunday’s number, averaging 14.00 million viewers.

CBS Sports delivered the most-watched final round of the Masters since 2015, averaging nearly 14 million viewers.

Coverage peaked with more than 20 million viewers as Rory McIlroy captured the Green Jacket for a second straight year: pic.twitter.com/fxJBlCxrYB

— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) April 14, 2026

CBS’s coverage of McIlroy’s win peaked at 20.05 million viewers, marking the largest peak for a final round Masters telecast since 2013.

Of course, as with most record-breaking viewership numbers these days, it is necessary to caveat the figure with a mention that this is the first Masters to be measured under Nielsen’s new Big Data + Panel standard, which incorporates data collected from millions of connected devices into its traditional panel sample and generally serves to increase viewership for live sports compared to prior years.

However, surpassing last year’s Sunday audience, which itself was a seven-year high for CBS, was not to be expected, even with the Nielsen adjustments. Last year’s tournament featured McIlroy searching for the career grand slam in a final pairing with another one of golf’s biggest stars, Bryson DeChambeau. The dramatic highs and lows of McIlroy’s final round in 2025 also provided for an all-time memorable telecast. This year’s final round also had plenty of suspense, as well as a tight and crowded leaderboard throughout most of the day, but didn’t have the generational stakes of completing a career grand slam.

Fans tuned in anyway.

McIlroy has proven to be the sport’s top draw, which is perhaps a timely development for golf as it confronts a new reality with its previous needle-mover, Tiger Woods.

In addition to Sunday’s high marks, CBS also had its most-watched Masters third round since 2019, averaging 8.11 million viewers on Saturday afternoon. That figure is up 14% versus last year’s third round.