CBS has extended its contract to broadcast the PGA Championship for another eight years.
The network said Thursday the new deal with the PGA of America would go through 2019. CBS has aired the season's last major since 1991.
The agreement comes at an uncertain time for television ratings for golf, with main attraction Tiger Woods yet to regain his dominant form after his infidelity scandal rocked the sport.
CBS Sports President Sean McManus said the network used conservative estimates in predicting what kinds of ratings the tournament would draw in coming years.
''We didn't base this on him coming back as strong as he's been,'' McManus told The Associated Press.
The contract has a revenue-sharing element, McManus said, so the PGA will receive more money if the tournament draws better ratings than expected.
''This is going to be a good deal for CBS and, I believe, for the PGA of America also, whether or not (Woods) plays well again,'' he said.
Even with Woods' absences and struggles lowering some ratings for golf, McManus said, ''from an advertiser standpoint and sponsor standpoint, it's as healthy as I've ever seen it.''
''If it wasn't,'' he said, ''we wouldn't have done a long-term deal.''
