Nick Faldo: Golf got ‘carried away by its popularity’ – now it’s time for the stars to fix it

Sir Nick Faldo says golf needs to “develop more characters” if it is to win back the fans.

As the sport remains locked in its so-called civil war with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf seemingly refusing to budge on any peace agreements, TV ratings have taken a huge hit.

And with the game’s superstars such as Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler playing on a different tour to Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, Faldo is far from surprised.

Speaking to The PGA, he said: “The pro game has had a bit of a walloping with what happened with the split and players divided. Many of us just played for the trophies, and now it has changed quite dramatically.

“The public hasn’t welcomed that, and we see that TV numbers as much as 20 per cent down.

“Golf is a difficult game to to oversell. We know golf, and the discipline of it, and what it is all about. And if you’re a golfer, you appreciate that. But to look in from the outside, you can expect something completely different, a whole new entertainment – or “supercharged excitement”, as somebody used as a tagline.

“It’s golf! Good luck! Golf is chess in a field. So we’ve got to be careful of that.”

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And that, Faldo believes, is where the big names can play their part.

“I think they’ve got to develop more characters, somehow,” he explained. “Take the Formula One model. That’s what I would do. I did recommend that years ago. The drivers have to talk, interviews are mandatory, even though you’re just about to get in the car and you could kill yourself at the first corner.

“It’s pretty tough for a golfer to say, “It disturbs my swing.” But we’ve moved on. It’s a time when the players have got to give.

“They’ve got to sell themselves a lot more now. Golf got a bit carried away with its popularity. You’ve got to work on it.”

The six-time major champion, meanwhile, is not quite as concerned about the sport at club level. The R&A recently revealed that golf’s participation levels across the world has improved significantly in the last 12 months.

“The future of the game of golf is good, it’s strong” he said.

“More people are playing and have been introduced to the game through social golf, TrackMan golf, and all sorts of things like that.”

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor