ESPN’s first round coverage of Master’s tournament with Woods’ return seen by 4.94 million

Nielsen: Masters first-day ratings up 47 percent

NEW YORK — ESPN’s coverage of Tiger Woods’ return to golf in the first round of the Masters on Thursday made a little bit of television history.

The Nielsen Co. said Woods’ comeback drew just under 5 million viewers. That made it the most-watched golf telecast ever in cable television, beating the 2008 U.S. Open championship playoff involving Woods and Rocco Mediate. Viewing was 47 percent higher than first round coverage last year.

Nielsen didn’t immediately have an estimate of how many people watched Woods’ first tee shot, which was covered live by ESPN more than two hours before its regular Masters coverage.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) — First indications are that Tiger Woods’ return has increased television viewership of the Masters by 50 percent.

The Nielsen Co. said that ESPN’s coverage of the Masters’ first round on Thursday had a 3.6 rating in an overnight measurement of the nation’s biggest markets. That’s 50 percent more than the similar measurement for last year’s opening day, and 80 percent more than it was in 2008.

The company is expected to release viewership estimates accounting for all of the country later on Friday.

ESPN covered Woods’ first tee shot live within “SportsCenter” more than two hours before regular coverage started on Thursday. Nielsen said its audience was double what it gets on a typical Thursday afternoon. But the .8 rating was much smaller than it got later in the afternoon.