NBC Sports Group Continues 2017 LPGA Tour Season with Eight Consecutive Weeks of Coverage

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – the LPGA Tour’s Second Major of 2017 – Airs June 29-July 2 on Golf Channel and NBC

(ORLANDO, Fla.) – With record viewership at the season-opening event in January and the drama of the final round at the ANA Inspiration contributing to growing Golf Channel’s 2017 LPGA Tour viewership by 10 percent year-over-year, the LPGA Tour returns to Golf Channel this week with the Kingsmill Championship, beginning an eight-week consecutive stretch that is highlighted by the LPGA Tour’s second major championship of 2017, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (June 29-July 2).

KINGSMILL CHAMPIONSHIP: This week’s Kingsmill Championship in Williamsburg, Va., begins a series of eight consecutive LPGA tournaments airing live on Golf Channel. Twenty of the top-25 players in the Rolex Rankings are in the tournament field, including World No. 1 Lydia Ko, No. 2 So Yeon Ryu, No. 3 and defending Kingsmill champion Ariya Jutanugarn, World No. 4 In Gee Chun and No. 5 Lexi Thompson.

Primetime coverage of the first two rounds of the Kingsmill Championship will air Thursday and Friday (May 18-19) from 9-11 p.m. ET with live streaming on Golf Channel Digital from 4:30-6:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage will continue on-air and online Saturday and Sunday (May 20-21) from 5-7 p.m. ET.

KPMG WOMEN’S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP, THE LPGA TOUR’S SECOND MAJOR OF 2017: Following the Kingsmill Championship, the LPGA Tour will travel to Michigan, New Jersey, Ontario and Arkansas before heading to Olympia Fields Country Club in suburban Chicago for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (June 29-July 2), the LPGA Tour’s second major championship in 2017. Golf Channel and NBC will combine for more than 12 hours of live tournament coverage, complemented by comprehensive news and digital coverage.

NBC SPORTS GROUP’S 2017 MARQUEE LPGA EVENTS: Golf Channel has coverage of four of the five women’s major championships in 2017, with three majors airing on NBC: the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, the RICOH Women’s British Open and The Evian Championship. The biennial Solheim Cup returns to U.S. soil in 2017, taking place in August in West Des Moines, Iowa, with complete coverage on Golf Channel. This year, NBC Sports Group will televise 33 LPGA Tour events in the season-long Race to the CME Globe – the highest number of Golf Channel televised events in LPGA history.

PURE SILK BAHAMAS AND ANA INSPIRATION RECORD VIEWERSHIP: The 2017 LPGA Tour season kicked off in the Bahamas with the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic in January, with Brittany Lincicome defeating Lexi Thompson in a one-hole playoff. Sunday’s (Jan. 29) final-round coverage delivered 524,000 viewers, the most-watched LPGA Tour regular season telecast in Golf Channel history, which also featured Stacy Lewis, Gerina Piller and Nelly Korda finishing 3-5, respectively. Viewership peaked at 650,000 in the first half hour on Sunday.

Viewership momentum continued through the season’s first major championship, the ANA Inspiration (March 30-April 2). In a final round that saw Thompson incur a four-stroke penalty, and the subsequent emotional playoff between Thompson and So Yeon Ryu, Golf Channel delivered 706,000 viewers for Sunday’s final round (+63% YOY), the most-watched final round at this event on Golf Channel (2011-17) and most-watched LPGA Tour round on Golf Channel in eight years. Coverage peaked at 852,000 viewers (9:15-9:30 p.m. ET).

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