PGA Tour Attendance

The table below has PGA Tour tournaments sorted in rank order of attendance. I'm working LIV and LPGA tournaments into the fold this season. Consider the "Good Year" column to be pre-covid lockdown, pre-LIV crowd sizes, with Tiger playing. In some cases, such as majors, it's still accurate. Full notes are after the table.Enjoy the golf!
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TournamentCourseGood Year Attendance2025 AttendanceLocation
WM Phoenix OpenTPC Scottsdale400,000 - 719,179275,000 - 325,000Scottsdale, AZ, USA
The Open ChampionshipRoyal Troon Golf Club258,174TBDAyrshire, Scotland, UK
U.S. OpenPinehurst, No. 2200,000 - 225,000TBDPinehurst, NC, USA
Masters TournamentAugusta National Golf Club175,000 - 200,000175,000 - 200,000Augusta, GA, USA
PGA ChampionshipValhalla Golf Club175,000 - 200,000TBDLouisville, KY, USA
AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AmPebble Beach Golf Links175,000 - 200,00060,000 - 80,000Pebble Beach, CA, USA
Travelers ChampionshipTPC River Highlands175,000 - 200,000TBDCromwell, CT, USA
The PLAYERS ChampionshipTPC Sawgrass150,000 - 175,00080,000 - 100,000Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, USA
RBC Canadian OpenHamilton Golf and Country Club125,000 - 150,000TBDHamilton, ON, Canada
Wells Fargo ChampionshipQuail Hollow Club125,000 - 150,000TBDCharlotte, NC, USA
The CJ CupTPC Craig Ranch125,000 - 150,000TBDMcKinney, TX, USA
Valspar ChampionshipInnisbrook Resort, Copperhead110,000 - 135,00050,000 - 70,000Palm Harbor, FL, USA
Zurich Classic of New OrleansTPC Louisiana100,000 - 125,000TBDAvondale, LA, USA
Farmers Insurance OpenTorrey Pines Golf Club, South100,000 - 125,00030,000 - 50,000La Jolla, CA, USA
3M OpenTPC Twin Cities100,000 - 125,000TBDBlaine, MN, USA
BMW ChampionshipCastle Pines Golf Club100,000 - 125,000TBDCastle Rock, CO, USA
RBC HeritageHarbour Town Golf Links100,000 - 125,00040,000 - 60,000Hilton Head, SC, USA
LIV Golf AustraliaThe Grange Golf Club90,000 - 110,000102,483Grange, South Australia
Texas Children's Houston OpenMemorial Park Golf Course75,000 - 95,00020,000 - 40,000Houston, TX, USA
Cognizant ClassicPGA National, Champion200,000 - 225,00025,000 - 45,000Palm Beach Gardens, FL, USA
Genesis Scottish OpenThe Renaissance Club76,024TBDNorth Berwick, Scotland, UK
Arnold Palmer InvitationalBay Hill Club and Lodge70,000 - 90,00040,000 - 60,000Orlando, FL, USA
FedEx St. Jude ChampionshipTPC Southwind70,000 - 90,000TBDMemphis, TN, USA
The Genesis InvitationalRiviera Country Club60,000 - 80,00030,000 - 50,000Pacific Palisades, CA, USA *Played at Torrey Pines in 2025
John Deere ClassicTPC Deere Run50,000 - 70,000TBDSilvis, IL, USA
Rocket Mortgage ClassicDetroit Golf Club50,000 - 70,000TBDDetroit, MI, USA
Charles Schwab ChallengeColonial Country Club50,000 - 70,000TBDForth Worth, TX, USA
LPGA ThailandSiam Country Club, Old Course43,59550,165Pattaya, Banglamung, Chonburi, Thailand
The American ExpressPGA West, Dye Stadium50,000 - 70,00020,000 - 40,000La Quinta, CA, USA
TOUR ChampionshipEast Lake Golf Club40,000 - 60,000TBDAtlanta, GA, USA
ISCO ChampionshipKeene Trace Golf Club40,000 - 60,000TBDNicholasville, KY, USA
Memorial TournamentMuirfield Village Golf Club40,000 - 60,000TBDDublin, OH, USA
Valero Texas OpenTPC San Antonio, Oaks40,000 - 60,00020,000 - 30,000San Antonio, TX, USA
Sony OpenWaialae Country Club40,000 - 60,00040,000 - 60,000Honolulu, HI, USA
LPGA HSBC Women’s ChampionshipSentosa Golf Club15,000 - 20,00015,000 - 20,000Singapore
Mexico Open at VidantaVidanta Vallarta40,000 - 50,00010,000 - 15,000Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
Wyndham ChampionshipSedgefield Country Club30,000 - 50,000TBDGreensboro, NC, USA
Barracuda ChampionshipTahoe Mountain Club30,000 - 50,000TBDTruckee, CA, USA
Myrtle Beach ClassicDunes Golf and Beach Club41,673TBDMyrtle Beach, SC, USA
LIV Golf Hong KongHong Kong Golf Club25,000 - 30,00025,000 - 30,000Fanling, Hong Kong
LIV Golf MiamiTrump National Doral15,000 - 20,00015,000 - 20,000Miami, FL, USA
Corales Puntacana ChampionshipCorales Golf Club15,000 - 20,000TBDPunta Cana, La Altagracia, Dominican Republic
LIV Golf SingaporeSentosa Golf Club8,000 - 12,0008,000 - 12,000Singapore
LPGA LA ChampionshipEl Caballero Country Club8,000 - 12,0008,000 - 12,000Los Angeles, CA, USA
LIV Golf RiyadhRiyadh Golf Club5,000 - 10,0005,000 - 10,000Al Aarid, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Puerto Rico OpenGrand Reserve Country Club, Old5,000 - 10,0005,000 - 10,000Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Sentry Tournament of ChampionsPlantation Course5,000 - 15,0005,000 - 10,000Kapalua, HI, USA
Augusta National Women’s AmateurAugusta National Golf Club3,000 - 5,0003,000 - 5,000Augusta, GA
LPGA Ford ChampionshipWhirlwind Golf Club3,000 - 5,0003,000 - 5,000Chandler, AZ, USA
LPGA Tournament of ChampionsLake Nona Golf & Country Club3,000 - 5,0003,000 - 5,000Orlando, FL, USA
LPGA Founders CupBradenton Country Club3,000 - 5,0003,000 - 5,000Bradenton, FL, USA
LPGA Match PlayShadow Creek Golf Course1,000 - 2,0001,000 - 2,000North Las Vegas, NV, USA
Blue Bay LPGAJian Lake Blue Bay Golf Club1,000 - 2,0001,000 - 2,000Hainan, China

I spent a couple hundred hours in 2014 looking at this subject. Recently (July 2024) I decided to dust off the old data and see how things stand today. This isn't like the NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL which announce attendance over the PA system during the game.So where did I get my info on how many people go to PGA Tour events?-The tournament in Scottsdale loves to talk about attendance but that event is an outlier. Here's a link to the tournament record book, which stopped in 2018 when they published 719,179 as the total event attendance. Woodstock in 1969 is estimated at 500,000 for the whole festival. Woodstock 1999 is estimated at 400,000.-The Masters could draw 300,000+ if they wanted to. They don’t want those crowds and also limit the TV coverage. If you get the chance, go to this tournament over any other.-The Open and Scottish Open both published attendance figures in 2024. Neither tournament is controlled by the PGA Tour.-Quotes from tournament directors published in local papers, e.g. "well over 100,000.” The underperforming tournaments are tight lipped about discussing ticket sales or turnstile counts. They may talk about percentage improvement over previous years. Overperforming tournaments will sometimes announce a number for just Saturday or Sunday.-Traffic control estimates from local police and sheriff's departments. These details, when published, are usually found in City Council meeting minutes.-Reading local reports from the COVID years, many of which involved discussions with Tournament Directors about attendance potential during pre-pandemic years. Those interviews were conducted when attendance was being capped at 5,000/day, or the events were being cancelled outright.-Tournament media kits and sponsorship press releases. There is so much written material in these documents and not all of it gets a filter, especially the older (15+ years) editions. Those old nuggets helped establish baseline capacity for some courses. Not every course is TPC.-Knowing the capacity of the grandstands, bleachers, and hospitality tents used by tournaments, which are mostly visible on TV. Professional experience estimating crowd sizes when the real number can be verified after the estimate. Basically I assumed a hobby of counting crowd sizes after I left the sports and entertainment industry.-Each tournament is hosted and promoted by a not-for-profit entity, and not-for-profit entities have to make certain public filings (Annual Form 990 for example). This isn't the goldmine it sounds like though. It's financial information, not attendance information.-There are 300-400 volunteers on the course each day during the tournament, and about half that much on non tournament days. This contributes 2,000 to my estimates. Volunteer's don’t pay for tickets but they’re certainly part of the gallery.The estimated ranges are for the whole week, not just the four day tournament and are rooted in announced attendance, not tickets sold, not turnstile count. Announced attendance is often greater than the other two metrics. LIV Australia used a turnstile count with they announce 102,483 for the 2025 tournament.There are significant fluctuations in attendance from year to year for most tournaments. Weather, lack of quality players at the beginning, run-away competitions at the end, alternative forms of local entertainment, and ingress/egress or parking issues all contribute to people not showing up to the tournament. Discount or abandon the estimated ranges when adverse conditions are present.As you can see, PGA Tour events have seen a significant drop in attendance thus far in 2025 when compared to good years past. Waste Management was down for common sense safety reasons but it is still the biggest tournament out there.Follow the crowds on X @GolfAttendanceContact me at [email protected]Copyright 2025