TGL opener draws 30 percent more viewers than first-year average

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — TGL's opening day, up against the NFL for the first time, earned a rating 30 percent higher than the league's average for its first season.

The rematch of the Season 1 final between the Atlanta Drive and New York Golf Club had 646,000 viewers on ABC from 3 to 5:07 p.m. The first year of the indoor, tech-infused golf league co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy drew an average viewership of 498,000. The opener peaked at more than 700,000 viewers twice during the two-hour match.

The match was won by defending champion Atlanta on another dramatic putt by Billy Horschel.

TGL made the decision to open the season about a week earlier than its inaugural season and on a Sunday against the NFL's week 17 schedule. The match spanned the last hour of the 1 p.m. games and start of the late games.

Compared to the golf events aired the previous two week, TGL's number is 15 percent higher than the prior Sunday's PNC final round from Orlando, which drew 560,000 on NBC; and up 44 percent from the final round of the Grant Thornton Invitational in Naples two weeks earlier, which was viewed by 450,000 on NBC.