CBS earned a 4.4 overnight Nielsen rating for the final round of the PGA Championship yesterday, which saw Jason Dufner hold off Jim Furyk by two strokes to win his first major. That overnight is up 13% from a 3.9 rating last year, when Rory McIlroy won the event by eight strokes and the final round aired up against the final day of the London Games. Compared to ’11, when Keegan Bradley won the event in a three-hole playoff over Dufner, this year’s final round was up slightly from a 4.3 overnight. CBS also earned a 3.0 overnight for third-round coverage on Saturday, up 30% from a 2.3 rating last year and up 15% from a 2.6 rating in ’11. Meanwhile, TNT earned a 1.6 overnight for its early coverage of the third round on Saturday, marking the net’s best rating for third round coverage since a 1.7 overnight in ’10. Through three rounds of coverage, TNT averaged a 1.4 overnight, the net’s best mark for the PGA Championship since a 1.5 in ’09 (THE DAILY). In Tampa, Tom Jones writes CBS was "good" in their broadcast of the tournament. Jones: "Not great. Not bad. Just good." However, the ratings show that a net "can have a good weekend even without Tiger Woods in contention" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 8/12).
