Shark void hurting: Newton

Shark void hurting: Newton

Leading golf commentator Jack Newton says the fact no Australian has filled the vacancy left by Greg Norman on the world stage is an issue with the game's fans here, but is only one of several factors contributing to a slide in the sport's television ratings.

Newton put his view forward as the debate continued over comments made by Ian Johnson, managing director of Channel Seven in Melbourne, that the sporting public in Australia had come to regard golf as boring and self-indulgent.