I can remember it like it was yesterday, even though it was 50 or so years ago.  I was watching Sunday at The Masters with my family, and I was almost in tears because CBS was not showing Jack Nicklaus enough.  Never mind that he was nowhere near the lead and was not really part of the story that year.  I wanted to see Jack.

You might ask why someone around the age of 6 would be that invested in any golf on TV.  The thing is, in my house growing up, Sunday golf was a family tradition.  My parents, my brother and I would sit and watch the final round of most tournaments (my older sisters had no interest).  Any major became “snack dinner” time and those were the good treats.

To this day, pizza rolls are still my favorite!

In 1986, I can tell you almost shot for shot Jack’s amazing comeback on the back 9.  I remember watching Davis Love III sink the winning putt on 18 at the PGA Championship held at Winged Foot in 1997 with a rainbow in the background.  It was a perfect television backdrop given that his late father was a long-time PGA Teaching Professional.

Almost everyone even slightly interested in golf remembers Tiger Woods battling Bob May at the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla.

It wasn’t just majors.  I remember watching Scott Verplank win the 1985 Western Open at Butler National Golf Club outside Chicago as an amateur.  I remember watching Tim Herron win The Honda Classic, Isao Aoki win The Sony Open, Mark O’Meara at Pebble Beach or even David Toms take the Quad Cities Classic (now the John Deere Classic).

We watched golf every week and that tradition carried on to my family as a father.  Golf on TV was just “must see TV.”

But now…not so much.

While the majors and events like the Ryder Cup still keep the tradition alive, I find myself watching fewer and fewer Sunday final rounds…at least live.

For most of the last few years, many, including myself, placed most of the blame on the schism between LIV Golf and The PGA TOUR. 

There is no doubt that the split in professional golf has negatively impacted viewership.  The PGA TOUR ratings are down, and LIV Golf is still not gaining any traction on The CW. 

And while having two competing circuits certainly plays a part, it is not the only reason golf on TV is just not as important.

Life certainly got in the way personally of my golf watching.  Having a daughter that played softball into college and another daughter that participated in competitive dance made sitting down for several hours on the couch every Sunday far more difficult.  Families in my neighborhood today seem to be even busier with kids’ events than even we were a decade ago.

On the rare occasion I was home, I still sat down and watched as much of the final round as I could.

The truth is, there are far more viewing options of every spring/summer sport available today than in years past.  Not only are there more televised games, but the ways to consume sports are almost unlimited.

In recent years, I have found myself watching everything from MLB, MLS, English Premier League, women’s college basketball (like EVERYBODY else this year), the Olympics and many more.  On one occasion, I watched a CFL game and a Northwoods League baseball game on the same Sunday!

You might say the issue lies within me.  Perhaps I have outgrown the habit of just mindlessly watching golf on Sunday afternoons.  Perhaps I have broadened my horizons.  Perhaps I have been distracted by too many options.

But here’s the thing, if TV is compelling, if the competition is fierce and if the players are interesting, people will watch.  Simply put, even if the PGA TOUR and LIV golf kiss and make up tomorrow, the competition for watchers’ attention is at an all-time high, and once a sport has lost the attention of the audience it might take years to get that audience back.

Between streaming on your phone while playing golf, major sports leagues offering 24-hour coverage and real-time social media updates, consumers don’t need to be glued to their big screens to know what’s going on and other sports are just faster and better suited for the short attention spans that exist in today’s world.

Maybe the pendulum will swing back someday.  Maybe the idea of a slow relaxing afternoon of watching the best golfers in the world make a ridiculously difficult game look easy will come back en vogue.

I hope I’m around if and when that happens.  For now, I’ll just continue to check my updates on my phone while watching both the Cubs and Twins games simultaneously.