ever tracked by the organization in a single
month, while August’s $331 million in sales
was a 32% YOY increase that surpassed that
month’s prior sales record by $44 million.
What may be even more remarkable is that
the sport has experienced a boom in popular-
ity in 2020. When professional play resumed,
engagement with and consumption of the
PGA TOUR also experienced a boom. From
the TOUR’s first official return event in May,
the Charles Schwab Challenge, through the
TOUR Championship in September, broadcast
household ratings on partners CBS and NBC
rose 23%, while cable household ratings on
the Golf Channel surged 50%—in a year when
all other major sports saw decreased ratings.
Average weekly cross-channel engagements on
television, streaming services, and digital and
social media increased 52%, with streaming
subscribers to PGA TOUR Live rising a whopping
68%, with the average user watching 50 min-
utes more per week. Average weekly PGA TOUR
app and website visits were up 28%, and social
media engagements were up 68%.
That golf was visibly, actively engaged in
raising money for the fight against COVID-19
likely helped the sport earn additional goodwill.
The industry rallied to support relief efforts to
the tune of more than $40 million via a variety
of undertakings. Among the first and most
high-profile charity sporting events were a pair
of PGA TOUR–backed televised endeavors fea-
turing superstars Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy,
Phil Mickelson, and Tiger Woods, among others.
The TOUR, its players, tournaments, and part-
ners raised more than $30 million to support
COVID-related relief efforts during the sport’s
shutdown from March to May; and when the
TOUR returned, it inspired fans with thoughtful
gestures both big and small, such as includ-
ing the names of local frontline workers on the
backs of caddies’ bibs (alongside the player’s
name). And the TOUR generated $160 million
overall for charity in 2020, despite the truncated
schedule.New Faces, New Numbers
Last year also ushered in a compelling wave of
young new stars. Collin Morikawa, at age 23,
captured the first major post-shutdown title,
and his second professional victory, at the 2020
PGA Championship at San Francisco’s Harding
Park, highlighted by a dramatic late eagle to
break from a crowded pack. Two other charis-
matic young twentysomethings, Matthew Wolff
(21) and Viktor Hovland (23), also enjoyed great
success in 2020, and experts believe each of
these three men will reach superstar status
sooner than later.
If the PGA TOUR’s numbers are all up, includ-
ing the Q-rating of its rising stars, it is partially
attributed to the quality of its data. ShotLink
technology, powered by CDW, has tracked and
recorded every single TOUR shot struck, in real
time, since the technology’s debut in 2001, us-
ing lasers and recently added high-speed video
cameras around each putting green. The cam-
era system, known as ShotLink Plus, produces
advanced statistics and metrics that promise
to grow even more focused and specific in the
near future.
One example on the horizon: ball-in-motion
statistics, which show not only where a ball
ended up but also how it got there (by landing
on the green before spinning back four feet, for
instance). This technology will soon produce
statistics that break down a player’s likelihood
of making putts of various lengths, while factor-
ing in their success rates when those putts
break left to right or right to left. Hard-core fans,
gamers, and bettors want to know everything
they can about these kinds of details so they
can engage more deeply with the game, and
ShotLink Plus will bring them one step closer.
It’s yet another sign of a game on the upswing.
—EVAN ROTHMANCON T EN T FROM PGA TOURIN MARCH AND APRIL
OF 2020 , 54% OF
THE NATION’S GOLF
COURSES CLOSED
DUE TO THE
COVID- 19 PANDEMIC.
BUT WITH
SOME FORESIGHT
AND QUICK ACTION,
THE GAME WAGED
AN INCREDIBLE RALLY
WITH A WIDESPREAD
REOPENING
IN MAY.