Peter Williams: Charmless Aussies need to liven up

This weekend and next constitute the only break from televised golf for the next 12 months. Just as well, because the year finished with a rather unsavoury spat between golfers and broadcasters over who's to blame for the big drop off in Australian TV ratings.

The broadcasters, especially Channel Seven boss Ian Johnston, blamed the golfers for being boring. The golfers said the broadcasters should make their telecast more interesting.

Both are right.

Australia has some of the game's best players. But somehow Peter Lonard, Robert Allenby and Stuart Appleby are just not charismatic or sparkling individuals.

Spending their formative years in a land of harsh sunlight and high skin cancer rates means they are well educated about protection from the elements. But when they put on a cap and wraparound sunglasses, they erect a barrier between themselves and the public. They go about their business in a professional manner, often playing spectacular golf. But there is no connection, no relationship, no warmth evolving between them and those watching.

Look at old pictures of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player and their contemporaries of the 1960s and 70s. They didn't know about skin cancer so few wore a hat. No one put on sunglasses. The public felt part of their world. The game boomed.

Modern health concerns dictate that players today must have some headgear. But players do themselves no favours by retreating to anonymity behind the Oakleys.

Today's generation of golfers is just lacking that spark which translates into the mass audience a Greg Norman could pull.

A leaderboard sometime in the last month where Michael Campbell or Adam Scott or Aaron Baddeley were prominent would have made a difference to the feel of an event, but golf just isn't like that. Reputations don't shoot low scores.

So when the players in contention are not marquee names, the onus is on the broadcaster to enhance the show.

During the three Australian Tour events in the last month, the visual aspect of the TV coverage was generally pretty classy but the commentary lacked colour and wit.

It's about time shots to the heart of the green were more than "commercial" or straight drives went somewhere rather than "the mayor's office".

This might seem pretty rich coming from someone who's been a rather average TV commentator in his time as well! But at least I think I'm qualified to offer some advice on how to make it sound better.

The problem is with the system of broadcasting used in this part of the world and also in that other hotbed of somnambulant commentary, Europe. Commentators work off monitors in one central position. You hear the same two or three voices for hours at a time.

On US networks one broadcaster covers particular holes. When the action switches from one hole to another, so does the voice. The commentary has more variety and precision. Next time you hear Gary McCord, David Feherty and Lanny Wadkins working a tournament for CBS, note how these guys pace themselves and the broadcast.

Falling audience numbers for golf on television in Australia (and in New Zealand this year the two tournaments had embarrassingly low ratings) is a serious issue for the Australasian PGA Tour.

The players and the broadcasters could help if they just livened up a bit.