Tiger Woods is still apparently a deciding factor in the world of gold, especially when it comes to the audience interest, even keeping in mind the ever increasing popularity of Jordan Spieth and his goal of a second straight Masters win.

On Thursday, in the 1st round of Masters, ESPN attracted a 1.7 rating, averaging out 2.398 million viewers, as per Nielsen Fast National numbers. It was down from a 2.2 (3.218 million) viewers previous year, with Tiger in the pack.

It was said that the first round figures were much better than the ratings in 2014, the last year in where Tiger Woods was not in the pack. ESPN registered a 1.5 rating with a 2.006 million viewers. Woods has not played in any golf tournament as he recovers from his surgeries.

Woods is missing from this years Augusta National list for the second time in 3 years. He confirmed on Wednesday that he had amplified up his practice routine and was hitting the huge dog on his home course in Jupiter, Florida.

Earlier that night, a leading website reported that the 4 time Masters winner was going all out in his efforts to come back to competitive golf after 3 back operations. The report came on the heels of Augusta chair Billy Payne stating reporters that he believed that Tiger would return quickly from his rehab that started shortly after his last competitory turn in August at Wyndham Championship.