Woods lifts Chevron Challenge to big ratings

Tiger Woods and Graeme McDowell after the Chevron World Challenge.

NEW YORK – Tiger Woods can still draw television viewers.

His playoff loss at the Chevron World Challenge drew the tournament’s highest preliminary rating for the final round in eight years.

U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell’s comeback victory earned a 2.7 overnight rating for Sunday’s round. That’s up 170 percent from last year.

It’s the best since a 3.1 in 2002, when Padraig Harrington beat Woods by two strokes.

Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned into a program. Overnight ratings measure the country’s largest markets.