10 Reasons Why David Feherty is Great for Golf

January 17, 2014

Knock, Knock. Who’s the most outrageous, audacious yet self-effacing bloke on television?

Yep. It’s David Feherty. And, next week he hosts his annual “Feherty Live” show in conjunction with the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. Before we tune in, let’s count down the top 10 things we love about the man.

1. His quirky, rapid-fire mind – It takes routes even he can’t follow. Feherty rearranges ordinary words into new, fresh, combinations. About Seve Ballesteros for example, “He could change the weather with his face.” And when asked about Ireland he replied, “Ireland will be a nice place when it’s finished.”

2. He’s shockingly funny – Each episode of his show brings something outrageous. Whether its letting John Daly tee off as he holds the ball on a tee in his teeth, or opening the Lee Westwood episode pants off on the toilet, Feherty never disappoints in the arena of the strange and zaney. His hair always looks a bit manic as if laced with flowing electricity, and his eyebrows arch sharply like his sentences that always seem to end in questions. No doubt Feherty entertains both in appearance and wit.

3. His colorful, sometimes foul, language – Feherty has trouble keeping his F-bombs and blatant references to his “gonads” or “plums” off-air. Flying through Paris he commented, “Travelling sucks. I enjoy travelling about as much as a six-inch nail being driven through my %^&.” Watch the clip

4. He is transparent about his past – the good, bad and the ugly – He has called himself, “The Tiger Woods of drinking.” Case in point: in 1986 when he won the Scottish Open and accepted the “big-ass silver cup” Feherty celebrated by filling the cavernous vessel with “all sorts of crap.” He woke up two days later on the 16th tee at Gleneagles 45 miles from where he’d won the tournament in Glasgow. The trophy was gone.

In an emotional interview with Tom Watson, Feherty said, “Five years ago I was trying to get sober. I remember asking you some pointless question. You looked kind of funny and put your hand over the lens and said, ‘You’re not well are you?’”

“I said, ‘No I’m not’. I knew I was going to die. I just knew it was going to happen.”

“You looked like it,” said Watson.

“How did you know?” asked Feherty.

“I could see it in your eyes.”

“What did you see?”

“I saw my reflection. I’d been there. I’d had my struggles with alcohol. I beat it by having friends help me and that was what I was trying to do with you.”

Jack Nicholas was there too and he said to Feherty, “You better go with him. You look like crap.”

Feherty did and today credits Watson and his wife, Hilary, for helping him turn his life around. “It was not an easy interview to do, but one I had to do. He is the big brother I never had,” says Feherty. See the interview

5. Feherty asks the questions no one else has the guts to – Not even President Clinton got a free pass. Greeting him at the interview, Feherty said, “You must have a lot of spare time. You clearly left the cupboard bare in media advisors if you’re doing this show. What the hell would possess you to do this?”

Clinton answered, “I like you, what can I say. I like the show.”

6. He also knows when to shut up – The interview with Ian Poulter was classic.

“When you’re wearing the pink shoes do your feet actually touch the ground?” asks Feherty.

“Ummm. What are you referring to?”

“You do look a little light on your loafers when you’re wearing them.”

“Really. Are you saying I mince down the fairway?” asks Poulter.

“Mincing is a good term. Nothing wrong with mincing.”

“Nothing wrong with pink is there?” asks Poulter.

“No. Course not. Everyone’s pink on the inside.”

“They’re only bloody pink for Christ’s sake. A color!” retorts Poulter.

“I know. I love them. I’m just asking the question. No reason to get shirty about it. Geez. Touchy.” Watch the clip

7. He doesn’t take himself too seriously – In the foreword to his book, “An Idiot for all Seasons,” he referred to his writing as “Endless, mindless ramblings — irrelevant drivel about everything but what you want to read about golf.”

He says he always chose his caddies for their entertainment value, guys like Rodney Willer. Feherty recalls, “Willer roars into the golf course on his motorcycle and walks to the putting green with a pizza on his head. Willer had stashed it under his helmet on his ride from the pub.”

8. He’s NEVER boring – Talking to NBA all star, Charles Barkley, he tells him, “You completely suck at golf. Why do you play? Is it a cleverly concealed plan to take out some hidden anger against white things? Barkley laughed heartily.

9. Underneath it all he’s really a sweet, kind guy – When he talks about his daughter, his dry and sarcastic demeanor melts away to reveal a mellow, sweet family man.

Feherty has also founded Feherty’s IED (Improvised Explosive Day) of golf, cycling, pheasant hunting and skiing events to benefit wounded warriors through his Troops First Foundation.

10. He knows the game – He’s been a pro. Born in Bangor, Northern Ireland (now a U.S citizen) he played on the European Tour and for Europe in the 1991 Ryder Cup.

When asked to do a Golf Channel show he said, “Over the past 40 years I’ve lived, breathed, coughed-up and sometimes just spewed all over the game of golf as a player, a writer and now a broadcaster. I simply can’t get rid of it.”

Tune in on Golf Channel next week as Feherty kicks off his new season with live shows from Orlando on Tues., Jan. 21 and Wed., Jan. 22 at 9 pm ET.

 

Featured image of David Feherty courtesy of Golf Digest