British Open ratings spike with Tiger Woods in the hunt

Tiger Woods briefly held the lead during the final round of the British Open, and TV ratings released Monday showed a significant spike in his wake.

NBC’s overall final-round audience was up 37 percent over last year, when Jordan Spieth won the Open.

Sunday's telecast tied for the best Open overnight rating in 18 years. Final-round play from Carnoustie (measured from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Eastern) earned a 5.0 rating.

The audience peaked from 1-1:30 p.m. ET with a 6.74 rating. That timing followed Woods grabbing the outright lead before losing it on No. 11.

The overall 5.0 overnight number ties Woods’ 2006 Open victory at Royal Liverpool, also aired on ABC. It equals the highest-rated final round overnight at the Open since Woods completed his “Tiger Slam” with a victory in St. Andrews in 2000.

 The network said 33.9 million minutes were streamed during the final round, a 67 percent boost over 2017. A total of 125 million minutes were streamed,  making it the most-streamed golf event for NBC Sports.