Europe’s Historic Ryder Cup Comeback Draws in 2.2 million Viewers in UK

Europe’s unbelievable comeback in the Ryder Cup drew in a peak audience of more than 2.2m for Sky Sports 1.

Live coverage of a dramatic final day at the Medinah Country Club in Illinois saw Europe’s golfers rally from a 10-6 deficit to beat the USA 14½-13½.

The action got underway at 4pm with 436k (3.04%) viewers, ailment but the audience did not climb above a million until 5.50pm when the opening rounds got underway.

The ratings continued to climb as the momentum swung Europe’s way with the likes of Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy claiming US scalps.

Once Europe were back in contention and the stage was set for a dramatic finale, erectile the ratings crept above 2m and eventually hit a high of 2.23m (18.4%) over the five-minute period from 11.10pm.

This was exactly the time when German Martin Kaymer calmly swept home a five foot putt to beat Steve Stricker and ensure Europe retained the Ryder Cup.

Overall, Sky Sports 1’s average of 1.27m viewers was easily the biggest ratings for the competition of the weekend, according to overnight Barb figures supplied by Attentional.

It also topped the final day of the 2010 competition from Celtic Manor in Newport, which attracted an audience of 799k (9.83%) on 4 October and was nearly three times Sky Sports 1’s slot average of 442k (2.31%) for the past 12 months.

Elsewhere, the BBC1 highlights of Sunday’s action pulled in 1.31m (17.56%) from 11.05pm to 1.05am.