PGA Tour Withstands Rory McIlroy Scare as Tommy Fleetwood Makes a Large Impact Yet Again Rory McIlroy decided to walk out of the Memphis event. It was supposed to hurt the PGA Tour. But it didn’t

Last week, Rory McIlroy skipped the FedEx St. Jude Championship, leaving many to question how the PGA Tour claims the FedEx Cup is a big deal when one of its biggest stars doesn’t think so. That’s what kept people murmuring about. Most even believed the Tour wouldn’t survive the heat of McIlroy’s latest controversy. It did, however.

And it’s partly thanks to Tommy Fleetwood, the so-far winless PGA Tour pro. Based on recent reports, the FedEx St. Jude Championship drew big viewership numbers. The Sports Business Journal ‘s Josh Carpenter said Justin Rose’s playoff win grabbed an average of 3.6 million viewers for the final round, not including folks watching on streams.

That beats Hideki Matsuyama’s win last year (2.1 million viewers), and it’s also an increase from 3.2 million in 2023