By Alex Myers
Tiger Woods’ Tour Championship win produced a huge bump in TV ratings for NBC. In the words of the network’s Dan Hicks, “Expect anything different?!” Of course, we didn’t, but the numbers that came in on Monday were still mighty impressive.

NBC announced the PGA Tour’s season finale drew a 5.21 overnight rating, the highest of any non-major championship this year. That number is also up a whopping 206(!) percent over last year’s event (1.70) in which Xander Schauffele won and Justin Thomas claimed the FedEx Cup’s $10 million bonus. This time, Justin Rose took home the biggest check, but Tiger’s tournament win had everyone talking — and apparently, a lot more people watching. As in three times as many people.

And the numbers grew as Woods finished off his first win in more than five years and his 80th PGA Tour title overall. The ratings peaked at a 7.19 during the 5:30-6:00 p.m. ET window, which according to NBC, trails only the Masters (11.03) and the PGA Championship (8.28) in 2018. This was also the first Tour Championship appearance for Tiger Woods since 2013.

As for the Tour Championship versus previous PGA Tour season finales, there’s no comparison. On record, this year’s was the most-watched in the tournament’s history, and it’s also the most-watched FedEx Cup Playoffs event since the tour’s postseason began in 2007.

And keep in mind, the Tour Championship drew these numbers despite going up against an NFL Sunday. Not too shabby.

NBC/Golf Channel will also televise this week’s Ryder Cup. Think anyone will be watching?

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By Christopher Powers
The PGA Tour makes its final stop at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio for the foreseeable future this week for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, which will move to Memphis in 2019. It’s the the last World Golf Championship of the season, the previous three being won by Justin Rose, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson, who will all be in the field this week.

But the story, as always, is Tiger Woods, who snuck into the field thanks to his T-6 in the Open Championship at Carnoustie. Woods has won the tournament eight times, the most recent victory being his last one on tour in 2013. That week was highlighted by a second-round 61 from Tiger, propelling him to an eventual seven-stroke victory and his 18th World Golf Championship win.

Woods will look to capture his ninth win at Firestone and his 80th career victory on tour this week alongside Jason Day, whose game hasn’t been as sharp since his second victory of the season in May at the Wells Fargo. Still, he’s managed to finish T-17 or better in three of his five starts since, but will need to improve if he wants to contend for his second major win in the PGA Championship at Bellerive next week. He and Woods tee off on Thursday at 10:20 a.m.

TV Coverage

OSN Sports 3HD will carry live coverage in the UAE/Saudi Arabia.

Thursday Tee Times (local)
No. 1 Tee
9:20 a.m. — Rafa Cabrera Bello

9:30 a.m. — Shubhankar Sharma, Aaron Wise

9:40 a.m. — Xander Schauffele, Jaco Ahlers

9:50 a.m. — Brendan Steele, Russell Knox

10 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, Matthew Fitzpatrick

10:10 a.m. — Marc Leishman, Brian Harman

10:20 a.m. — Luke List, Anirban Lahiri

10:30 a.m. — Alexander Bjork, Patrick Cantlay

10:40 a.m. — Adam Hadwin, Paul Casey

10:50 a.m. — Sergia Garcia, Charl Schwartzel

1:10 p.m. — HaoTong Li, Rickie Fowler

1:20 p.m. — Kodai Ichihara, Patton Kizzire

1:30 p.m. — Kevin Chappell, Adam Scott

1:40 p.m. — Matt Kuchar, Tommy Fleetwood

1:50 p.m. — Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose

2 p.m. — Justin Thomas, Phil Mickelson

2:10 p.m. — Dustin Johnson, Francesco Molinari

2:20 p.m. — Louis Oosthuizen, Pat Perez

2:30 p.m. — Ryuko Tokimatsu, Bubba Watson

Tee No. 10
9:20 a.m. — Byeong Hun An, Daniel Berger

9:30 a.m. — Brandon Stone, Brooks Koepka

9:40 a.m. — Cameron Smith, Kyle Stanley

9:50 a.m. — Austin Cook, Jhonattan Vegas

10 a.m. — Alex Noren, Ted Potter, Jr.

10:10 a.m. — Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama

10:20 a.m. — Tiger Woods, Jason Day

10:30 a.m. — Charley Hoffman, Branden Grace

10:40 a.m. — Thorbjorn Olesen, Webb Simpson

1:10 p.m. — Tyrrell Hatton, Kiradech Aphibarnrat

1:20 p.m. — Satoshi Kodaira, Bryson DeChambeau

1:30 p.m. — Wade Ormsby, Ross Fisher

1:40 p.m. — Ian Poulter, Zach Johnson

1:50 p.m. — Patrick Reed, Paul Dunne

2 p.m. — Kevin Na, Emiliano Grillo

2:10 p.m. — Jon Rahm, Andrew Landry

2:20 p.m. — Si Woo Kim, Kevin Kisner

2:30 p.m. — Tony Finau, Gary Woodland

The post 2018 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational tee times, viewer’s guide appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

TV Coverage
For viewers in the UAE, coverage starts at 6.15pm with selected ‘Featured Groups’ on OSN Sports 4HD. Amen Corner coverage begins at 7.45pm on OSN Sports 5HD with the main telecast beginning at 10pm on OSN Sports 3HD.

Sunday Tee Times (all times UAE). Note: The UAE is eight hours ahead of ET time.
6.00pm. — Vijay Singh
6.10pm. — Ian Poulter, Brian Harman
6.20pm. — Chez Reavie, Phil Mickelson
6.30pm. — Tyrrell Hatton, Doug Ghim (a)
6.40pm. — Martin Kaymer, Kyle Stanley
6.50pm. — Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Xander Schauffele
7.00pm. — Bryson DeChambeau, Branden Grace
7.10pm. — Rafa Cabrera Bello, Tiger Woods
7.20pm. — Bernhard Langer, Fred Couples
7.40pm. — Zach Johnson, Webb Simpson
7.50pm. — Ryan Moore, Jhonattan Vegas
8.00pm. — Adam Scott, Daniel Berger
8.10pm. — Haotong Li, Paul Casey
8.20pm. — Adam Hadwin, Hideki Matsuyama
8.30p.m. — Satoshi Kodaira, Russell Henley
8.40pm. — Kevin Kisner, Francesco Molinari
8.50pm. — Matthew Fitzpatrick, Si Woo Kim
9.00pm. — Charley Hoffman, Tony Finau
9.20pm. — Jimmy Walker, Matt Kuchar
9.30pm. — Jason Day, Bernd Wiesberger
9.40pm. — Justin Rose, Louis Oosthuizen
9.50pm. — Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith
10.00pm. — Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth
10.10pm. — Bubba Watson, Marc Leishman
10.20pm. — Henrik Stenson, Tommy Fleetwood
10.30pm. — Rickie Fowler, Jon Rahm
10.40pm. — Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy

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