Golf Channel, Web See Spikes For Wie's First Event With LPGA

By Jon Show, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

Michelle Wie's Performance At SBS Open Helps Boost Viewership For Golf Channel

Michelle Wie’s second-place finish in her first event as a member of the LPGA tour resulted in near-record interest from TV viewers and Web surfers. The three-day Golf Channel telecast of the February 12-14 SBS Open averaged 323,000 HHs, up 34% from 241,000 HHs for last year’s event. Final-round coverage on February 14 drew 428,000 HHs, the fourth-largest audience for a single LPGA round on Golf Channel. The record is 524,000 HHs for the final round of the '06 McDonald’s LPGA Championship, where Wie finished tied for fifth. During the week of the SBS Open, LPGA.com registered 5.2 million page views, up 55% from last year’s event and the second-highest traffic since the site registered 6.1 million page views for the '06 Evian Masters, an event in which Wie finished tied for second. Half of the traffic for the SBS Open originated in the U.S., followed by Japan (16%), Korea (11%), Canada (8%) and Sweden (3%).