America's grumpy old men are beginning to lose some of their appeal

With a reputation as a collection of grumpy old men who complain a lot and largely ignore spectators, the US Seniors Tour is going through difficult times. To which Christy O'Connor Jnr remarked with a wicked chuckle: "I never thought I'd be missed that badly." O'Connor, who left this week for a holiday in Spain, is making satisfactory progress from a broken left leg sustained at the end of March. To protect his top-50 status in the US, he cannot return there until next January, but he is hoping to play a few European Seniors' events towards the end of this year.

"Quite frankly I'm surprised to hear that the US Seniors is in trouble," he added. "In fact I thought it was extremely healthy. But I can see that it would certainly need the top stars to be competing on a regular basis."

Where TV ratings and sponsorship were concerned, they got the wrong result in the US Senior Open at Salem last weekend when Jack Nicklaus bogeyed the 69th and 70th holes after being tied for the lead. It paved the way for victory by the low-key Bruce Fleisher, 33 years after he had captured the 1968 US Amateur.

Now in its 22nd year, the tour has record prize money of $59.2 million but the prospects of further growth are shaky, at best. Plummeting TV ratings - ESPN's ratings are half of last year's - reflect an identity crisis in a golfing world dominated by Tiger Woods.

In the Emerald Coast Classic earlier this year, barely 100,000 households bothered to tune in to watch Mike McCullough beat Andy North in a play-off. On the other hand, Woods in contention on the regular tour might bring a 5.0 rating, or 35 households for every one tuning into senior golf.

"The ratings are much lower than anybody anticipated," admitted Tom Kite, a supposed star of the tour. Not surprisingly, advertisers have taken note. Cadillac, once a major sponsor, have scaled back, while Callaway are reported to be watching the ratings anxiously. With no crowds and no title sponsor since a lawn fertilizer company dropped out two years ago, organisers say the Las Vegas Senior Classic will probably fold.

Though the seniors do reasonably well where there's a dearth of top-level sport, the focus has now turned to corporate entertaining to pay the bills, in the absence of cash customers. "It's just not the same without large galleries," said Jim Colbert. "I think they're just starting to figure that out now."

Perhaps O'Connor, twice a winner in the US and Senior British Open champion for the last two years, is more valued among the galleries than he might think. In the meantime, his concerns about the future are of a far more personal nature, such as having the remaining eight of an original 14 pins removed from his leg - a process he hopes will be accelerated by generous helpings of Spanish sun.

"The reality of it is that I don't draw the fans to a golf course like Trevino or Palmer or Nicklaus or Chi Chi would. People come to watch them more than they come to watch me."

- Tom Watson answering criticism about his infrequent appearances on the ailing US Seniors Tour.