NEW YORK -- Birdie Kim's dramatic win at the U.S. Women's
Open -- and 15-year-old Michelle Wie's presence on the leaderboard --
helped Sunday's final round get the highest overnight rating for
the event since 1997.
NBC earned a 3.2 rating with a 7 share for the tournament that
Kim won with a chip-in birdie at the 18th hole, 68 percent higher
than the 1.9 with a 5 share the network got for last's year
tournament, won by Meg Mallon.
This year's Open had plenty of story lines to draw viewers, from
the play of Wie -- who shot an 11-over 82 in the final round after
being tied for the lead heading into Sunday -- to Annika Sorenstam's
quest to win her third straight major of the season. She finished
nine shots behind Kim, and was over par in a 72-hole event for the
first time in four years.
Teenager amateurs Morgan Pressel and Brittany Lang were also
impressive, tying for second at 5-over 289, two shots back of Kim.
Overnight ratings measure the 55 largest TV markets in the
United States, covering nearly 70 percent of the country. Each
overnight rating point represents about 735,000 TV homes.