Dubai: Darren Clarke has joined calls to create a faster version of golf in order to attract younger participants.
World No.1 and four-time major winner, Rory McIlroy, had told the BBC this week that there needed to be a quicker version of the game, after Sport England figures showed that the number of 16-25 year-olds playing golf had halved between 2009/10 and 2012/13.
Fellow Northern Irishman Clarke agreed on the sidelines of the Asian Tour season-ending Dubai Open at The Els Club on Saturday.
“We do need to figure out some way of getting more kids involved,” said the 2011 Open Championship winner. “An awful lot of people are getting turned off by the length of time it takes to play and you could, I suppose, blame it on us, the professionals.
“It’s our job and we’ve got to be meticulous in what we do, some people take longer than others unfortunately, but I can understand where the concerns are coming from, trying to get a method is going to be quite difficult.
“Sport now is getting shorter, faster and more exciting,” said Clarke, acknowledging the abridged versions of rugby and cricket. “It will be a very clever person who comes up with the format, but if they do, great.”
McIlroy had earlier told the BBC: “Everything’s so instant now and everyone doesn’t have as much time as they used to. So you maybe try some way of speeding the game up.
“People enjoy watching the game but gone are the days that you could spend five or six hours on a golf course.”
While golf has been reluctant to move with the times, McIlroy said he thought the sport’s authorities would be willing to embrace change.
“I don’t think they’d be against it, especially if they wanted to get participation levels up. I don’t think they need to alter tournament-play formats, I think that works very well. It’s the grassroots, definitely not at our level.”