Spieth surge lifts Colonial to its best weekend TV ratings in 11 years

An extended weekend presence on the leader board by Jordan Spieth, capped by the U.S. Open champion’s first PGA Tour victory in Texas during Sunday’s final round, produced a significant spike in CBS’ weekend TV ratings for Fort Worth’s annual tour stop.

Ratings provided Tuesday by network officials showed the Dean & DeLuca Invitational received the event’s highest combined ratings for weekend rounds in 11 years.

“Those are good. That’s a step in the right direction,” Colonial tournament director Michael Tothe said. “I’ve never been able to figure out ratings but if you were on the course for the weekend rounds, the energy was off the charts.”

Ratings for Sunday’s final round (2.2 rating/6 share) were the same as in the final round of 2015, when Spieth also was in Colonial contention while competing as the reigning Masters champion. But Saturday’s ratings (1.4 rating/4 share) marked an 8 percent increase over last year and stood as the top third-round Colonial telecast in metered markets since 2005, when the event drew a 1.6 rating/4 share.

Combined with the final-round numbers from Sunday, which matched the most-watched Sunday telecast at Colonial since a 2.3 rating/5 share for the event in 2005, the Saturday-Sunday weekend ratings were the tournament’s best in 11 years on CBS.

Viewers were able to watch Spieth, a Dallas resident who is the No. 2 player in the world golf rankings, redeem himself for last month’s meltdown at the Masters Tournament by collecting his first PGA Tour triumph in Texas. He did so in dramatic fashion at Colonial, with six birdies on the back nine of Sunday’s final round, including the final three holes.

Comparable Colonial ratings for the 2014 tournament, won by Adam Scott when he was the world’s top-ranked golfer, drew third-round numbers of a 0.9 rating/2 share. The Sunday telecast in 2014 garnered a 1.5 rating/4 share.

Tothe said Colonial officials remain in the process of breaking down final concessions and parking revenues from the 2016 event. But he noted that Saturday’s extended round of dawn-to-dusk golf, created by a Friday rain delay of 5 1/2 hours, “could possibly be a record-breaking day from a concessions standpoint.”

Colonial officials also have received their dates for the 2017 tournament from the PGA Tour, Tothe said. Next year’s event will remain on Memorial Day weekend, with tournament week set for May 22-28, 2017. Once again, the tournament will follow Irving’s event, the AT&T Byron Nelson (May 15-21), on next year’s tour calendar.

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Spieth surge lifts Colonial to its best weekend TV ratings in 11 years."