Senior PGA Tour in decline?

For one day in May, at least, everything seemed right again in the world of senior golf. Arnold Palmer shot his age, Jack Nicklaus was happy with his swing and Tom Watson was in contention in the Senior PGA Championship.

It was a brief bright spot in a season of discontent on the Senior PGA Tour, which is struggling in an era when Bruce Fleisher and Dana Quigley contend far more than Nicklaus or Lee Trevino.

Television ratings are plummeting and players are grumbling while the tour tries to find its niche in a golf world dominated by Tiger Woods.

Although the senior golfers are playing for more prize money than ever -- $59.2 million this year -- some sponsors are scaling back and a new TV contract offers more security than added riches. The tour might have mined just about all the money it can out of its 38 official tournaments, and prospects for growth are shaky at best.

Indeed, in its 22nd year, the senior tour might finally be showing its age.

''Senior golf is probably going through a little bit of a down,'' Nicklaus said.

Part of the blame goes to Woods, whose dominance has overshadowed much of everything else in golf, including the senior and LPGA tours. More goes to the tour's move this year to CNBC, where hardly anyone watches.

Ratings soar whenever Woods plays, and with his star power PGA officials expect some extra millions in a new TV contract for the regular tour.

The senior tour, by contrast, is relegated to mostly tape-delayed action on the financial channel CNBC.

Ratings are half what they were last year on ESPN and a third of what they were two years ago. In the Emerald Coast Classic earlier this year, barely 100,000 households, or a microscopic .13 of all television homes, bothered to tune in on Sunday to watch Mike McCullough beat Andy North in a playoff.

Woods in contention on the regular tour might bring a 5.0 rating, or 35 households for every one that tunes in for senior golf.

''So far they've been dismal,'' Tom Kite said of the ratings. ''I think they're much lower than everybody anticipated.''

It's easy to see why fans might be losing interest. A tour built on the likes of Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino and Chi Chi Rodriguez is now dominated by players who were never big names in their prime.

Palmer is a largely ceremonial figure and Nicklaus plays in only a few events. Even Trevino, who won 28 tournaments in the '90s and played almost every week, has scaled back at age 61 and plans to play in only half of this year's events.

''We're seeing a little result in not having a Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer in the forefront,'' said Terry Hanson, a television consultant who once headed Turner Sports and was also a PGA executive. ''I'm not so sure I'd be crying Chicken Little, but I think the audience is seeking its own level.''

CNBC began its coverage with ads promoting Kite as the tour's new star. But to most casual fans he was probably known more for the huge glasses he used to wear on tour than for many of his accomplishments.

Lanny Wadkins is more interested in a TV career than playing the senior tour, while Watson has been bouncing between the regular and senior tours and has yet to find a comfortable spot as a senior.

''We need the players and the personalities,'' veteran senior tour player Jim Colbert said. ''We talk about it out here among ourselves. The players recognize what is happening.''

Watson drew criticism earlier this year when he played at the regular tour stop in Hilton Head instead of at the Tradition, the first senior major of the season.

Fellow players saw it as a snub and wondered if he was really committed to over-50 golf.

''We would love for him to step up and support the tour more,'' said Doug Tewell, who won the event. ''He's a superstar; won just about everything there is to win, and we need his support.'' Watson, though, is reluctant. He still thinks he can compete on the regular tour and won't commit to a full-time senior schedule.

''I'm not going to enter into a debate about whether it's right or wrong,'' Watson said. ''The reality of it is I don't draw the fans to a golf course such as the likes of Trevino or Palmer or Nicklaus or Chi Chi. The people come there to watch them more than they come to watch me.''

PGA commissioner Tim Finchem said Watson might be underestimating his appeal.

''Any sport need stars like Tom. The senior tour needs stars too,'' Finchem said. ''We're counting on Tom to be a major leader of the senior tour next 5-10 years.''

The lack of star power and declining ratings haven't escaped the attention of advertisers.

Cadillac has scaled back its once major sponsorship of the senior tour, and a big television sponsor, Callaway Golf, watches the ratings with a bit of anxiety.

''The continuing trend for the ratings to be so much less than on the previous network is concerning,'' said Ian Rowden, Callaway's executive vice president of global marketing. ''The demographics are really strong, but at the end of the day you have to ask yourself how many are actually watching.''

PGA officials say they're counting on the ratings to increase, and they believe the record prize money shows the tour is healthy.

''I think the negativity of the senior tour has been overplayed,'' Finchem said.

Not in Las Vegas, where the senior tour has been a fixture the last 16 years. Tournaments featuring Palmer, Trevino and others used to draw crowds that would rival those at the city's regular tour event.

In April, though, golfers and workers almost outnumbered the fans who bothered to watch as a group of largely no-name players and journeymen from previous tours were in contention on the weekend.

With no crowds and no title sponsor since a lawn fertilizer company dropped out two years ago, organizers say the Las Vegas Senior Classic will probably fold.

''The market has definitely changed over the last three to five years, and the product has changed, too,'' said Charlie Baron, tournament director for the senior event and the Invensys Las Vegas Classic regular-tour stop.

''It's very hard to compete with the product of the regular tour. You look at cities like Birmingham and Minneapolis where they have very successful events and great attendance and it's because they don't compete against the regular tour.''

Indeed, the tour does draw reasonably well in areas where fans are starved for sports. But at many tour stops, the focus is more on corporate entertaining to pay the bills than bringing in fans.

''It's just not the same without large galleries,'' Colbert said. ''I think they're just starting to figure that out now.''

While the tour needs stars, it also needs players to be more friendly and approachable.

The senior tour has gained a reputation as grumpy old men who complain a lot and often ignore fans.

''Some of the players out here a long bit of time somehow forget what got them here and how good it's been,'' Colbert said.

Fleisher agrees.

''It's up to us to make it a fine show, smile a little more,'' he said. ''This is a gift and these guys better wake up to the fact what's at stake.''

The good paydays figure to continue, though the purses are beginning to level off after tripling from $19.8 million a decade ago.

Of more concern might be the effects of a shaky economy on corporate sponsorship that is already difficult to find.

Still, Colbert, for one, is upbeat.

''I think the lull is a normal thing,'' said Colbert, who has been active in tour management. ''Obviously, in the last few years the No. 1 focus has been Tiger and the regular tour. But we are by far the second most successful circuit in the world. It's not a bad position to be in.''

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