Australian TV golf coverage in crisis

Australia's top golfers Stuart Appleby and Adam Scott have defended the sport after news that this year's Australian events have been a ratings disaster for host broadcaster Channel Seven.

On Tuesday Seven's managing director in Melbourne said the network could not guarantee continued free-to-air coverage if audience figures remained at unsustainable levels.

Ian Johnson said professional golfers needed to face up to the fact that the public saw them as "boring" and "self-absorbed".

Today Appleby did just that, saying he was not about to become more demonstrative for the sake of a TV audience.

"I as well as anybody know that the sponsors are trying to get good value and that's what we're trying to do," he said.

"But I'm not going to change my game and start running around giving high fives and pumping fists and punching some guy in the crowd because he's got his mobile phone.

"I mean if you want to go with that, go to a lot of other sports."

Australia's top ranked golfer Adam Scott echoed Appleby's comments. He admitted the broadcasts needed to be made more exciting but said golfers could not afford to alter their games too much.

"Do you want to see us throwing clubs out there? It's a tough thing to balance out: how far we can let our emotions go, but also you've got to keep it in check if you want to keep playing well.

"We want to put on a show out there as well, but it's a serious business."

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