The Great Canadian Ratings Report: Spieth not the new Tiger -- at least not yet

During television coverage of the 79th Masters, there may have been one or two words of effusive praise uttered by the army of commentators employed to fill the air with encouraging words.

Most involved opinions that young Jordan Spieth was the heir apparent to Tiger Woods and that his youth, personality and abilities would soon have lapsed golf viewers rushing back to their TV sets in droves. And while Masters ratings were up on both sides of the border, the verdict on Spieth's ability to revive the TIger-driven interest in golf has to be classified as a definite "maybe".

Ratings were definitely up from last year. They rose 23 per cent on CBS, while in Canada Global saw audiences jump by 12 per cent in the final round.

That wasn't enough to overcome the 24 and 33 per cent drops ratings took last year, but at least it's a start.

But there's no way knowing how much an effect golf's great next hope had on the ratings. Yes, Spieth set several records and certainly provided a few stunning moments.

But there was one other big difference between last year's Masters and this year's that might have had as much an effect on ratings as the emergence of a new star: Tiger Woods was there and he was in contention. Last year he was recuperating from one of his many surgeries of late and ratings tanked.

So it's not too much of a stretch to believe that a lot of those recovered ratings this year were induced by Tiger's return (for one weekend anyway) to contention.

This could be the best possible scenario for golf as it faces the inevitable pain of Tiger's departure from the ring of the anointed. If Spieth can succeed where so many pretenders to the throne of Tiger have been found wanting, the PGA has the best of all worlds. It still has a competitive TIger drawing viewers and the king-in-waiting creating a whole new generation of golf fans.

But the golf world should not assume that Spieth, or anyone else, is going to lead it back to Tiger's glory days when the sport soared to new TV heights. Tiger Woods was a once-in-a-lifetime story, the Muhammad Ali of the polyester set, and assuming anyone can duplicate that would be folly.

Equally rash would be any assumptions that five Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs will guarantee monster ratings. But if all goes right, Rogers could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat after a so-so regular season.

Ratings were down and it was beginning to look like Rogers had blown $5 billion on a property that wasn't coming anywhere near the 20 per cent ratings bump that had been predicted. But if a Canadian team goes as far as the third round, ratings will easily surpass those of last season.

Considering that, it's not hard to imagine a few champagne corks popping at Rogers on Tuesday. That's when ratings from Monday night's Toronto Blue Jays home opener arrived, detailing an average audience of 1.22 million -- a 56 per cent increase over last season's game against the New York Yankees -- though it must be noted that game was played at 3:30 p.m. on a Friday.

Here are the most-watched English-language sports events from the past weekend, according to Numeris overnight ratings:

1. NHL Habs-Leafs/Bruins-Lightning/Pens-Sabres/Wings-Canes, Saturday, CBC-Rogers: 2,230,000

2. MLB, Rays at Blue Jays, Monday, Sportsnet: 1,220,000

3. Golf, Masters final round, Sunday, Global:  1,190,000

4. NHL, Oilers at Canucks, Saturday, CBC: 1,050,000

5. Golf, Masters third round, Saturday, Global: 716,000

6. MLB, Jays at Orloles, Sunday, Sportstnet: 661,000

7. MLB, Jays at Orioles, Friday, Sportsnet: 523,000

8. Curling, Grand Slam men's final, Sunday, Sportsnet: 461,000

9. MLB, Jays at Orioles, Saturday, Sportsnet: 451,000

10. NHL, Flames at Jets, Saturday, Sportsnet: 450,0000

11. NHL, Hockey Night In Canada pre-game, Saturday, CBC-Rogers: 413,000

12. NHL, Islanders at Penguins, Friday, Sportsnet: 409,000

13. Soccer, Manchester City at Man U, Saturday, TSN: 329,000

14. Golf, Masters second round, Friday, TSN: 318,000

15. Figure skating, world championships, Saturday, CBC: 240,000

16. Curling, Grand slam semifinals, Sunday, Sportsnet: 237,000

17. Auto racing, F1 Chinese Grand Prix, Sunday, TSN: 180,000

18. Soccer, Arsenal at Burnley, Saturday, TSN: 166,000

19. NBA, Raptors at Magic, Sunday, TSN: 159,000

20. Curling, Grand Slam women's final, Sunday, Sportsnet 360: 154,000

21. Auto racing, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Saturday, TSN: 145,000 (Fox viewers not measured.)

22. NBA, Raptors at Heat, Saturday, Sportsnet 360: 134,000

23. Curling, Grand Slam men's quarter-final, Saturday, Sportsnet 360: 117,000

24. Curling, Grand Slam round robin, Friday, Sportsnet One: 114,000

25. Hockey, Erie at London, Sunday, Sportsnet 360: 109,000

THREE TO WATCH

The real season begins: Enough with all this playing for points, bonuses and air time on Hockey Night In Canada. After five gruelling months, the NHL gets down to the serious business of winning the Stanley Cup and Canadians have more skin in the game this year than they have almost since the turn of the century (no, not that century.) Five Canadian teams are in the running when it all starts Wednesday with two of them, Ottawa and Montreal, squaring off against each other (7 p.m. ET, CBC.)

The stars of the future: If grizzled veterans battling for supremacy on the ice don't do it for you, try out the world under-18 hockey champioships. Tournament  coverage opens Thursday (7:30 p.m., TSN) with Canada taking on Latvia in Switzerland.

Showdown in Montreal:  There's a lot on the line when Canada takes on Romania at the Fed Cup (Saturday and Sunday, 7 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One.) But then, isn't there always something on the lline when we clash with Romania? This time it's a berth in World Group I for the Fed Cup. The loser has to drag its tail down to Group II. If you were wondering, we're talking tennis here.