Rory McIlroy is giving the PGA Tour’s annual event in the Big Easy a big boost in his first start since winning The Masters Tournament to complete golf’s Grand Slam.
Another attendance record is expected to be broken at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where McIlroy and Shane Lowry are returning to defend their title in the special two-man team event, which tees off Thursday at TPC Louisiana.
Last year, a record 116,000 fans attended the tournament as McIlroy played it for the first time, splitting the $2.57 million first-place prize with Lowry.
“The Rory-Shane pairing last year gave us a boost, and is certainly doing it again this year,” Zurich Classic tournament director Steve Worthy told Front Office Sports. General-admission tickets “are tracking way ahead of last year,” he said, but the event relies heavily on fans buying tickets the day of.
McIlroy and Lowry are good friends and have both competed under the Irish flag at the Olympics, even though McIlroy is from Northern Ireland.
After last year’s success, and with McIlroy indicating he would defend his title, tournament organizers expanded their VIP hospitality offerings by 20% this year, and it is nearly sold out of its roughly 3,000 tickets, which range from $185 to $275, available each day.
“There are a lot of people wanting to come see Rory, even though they’re not a golf fan,” Worthy said. “It’s not the food and beverage experience and everything. It’s just, ‘O.K., I’ve heard the story, I know more about him. I’m not a golf fan, but I’ve heard all of this, and now I just want to go see him.’ So, I think we’ve definitely had part of that kick in since Augusta.”
Rory the Ratings Magnet
The final round of the 2024 Zurich Classic averaged 1.85 million viewers on CBS, which was up 26% compared to 2023.
Another strong showing from McIlroy and Lowry would likely lead to another boost in TV ratings, continuing a robust run for the PGA Tour this season.
On Sunday, the final round of the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head averaged 4.36 million viewers on CBS, the most for the tournament in 23 years. McIlroy’s win in Augusta boosted final-round Masters ratings by 33% to 12.7 million viewers.
