Solheim Cup TV Audience Falls Sharply in U.S. Despite Tight Matches

Golf Channel drew 170,000 viewers for Sunday singles at the 2026 Solheim Cup, down 39 percent from the last European running of the event.

The 2026 Solheim Cup drew small television audiences in the United States, according to figures shared by Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal. Golf Channel averaged 179,000 viewers on Saturday, and that number slipped to 170,000 on Sunday even though the teams entered singles tied at 8-8 before Europe won the cup.

The Sunday figure represents a 39 percent decline from the 277,000 viewers who watched the corresponding day on Golf Channel when the event was played in Spain three years earlier. In 2015, the most recent year the U.S. won on foreign soil, Golf Channel's coverage averaged 227,000 viewers.

The U.S. team featured world No. 1 Nelly Korda, who won the first two majors of the season, including the U.S. Women's Open at Riviera. Still, only two Americans on the 12-player roster had won in 2026: Korda and Lauren Coughlin, ranked No. 17.

LPGA officials pointed to broader growth elsewhere. J.D. Sterba, the tour's vice president of communications, said viewership across the 2026 season is up year over year and that social impressions during Solheim Cup week rose roughly 30 percent versus 2023. The tour also hopes to schedule more LPGA coverage directly after PGA Tour broadcasts in 2027, a placement that typically lifts viewership by at least 20 percent.

The next Solheim Cup, scheduled for 2028 at Valhalla, is expected to benefit from network coverage and an afternoon television window.