Feherty talks about his past and wonders “Why am I alive?”
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Back in the late 80’s/early 90’s David Feherty was one of the best golfers ever to come out of Northern Ireland.
Some people handle success differently than others. David found pleasure in alcohol and drugs, and he has never shied away from admitting his use of them. In a most honest and revealing interview with Stayton Bonner of Rolling Stone Magazine, David told of his demons and was responsible for helping him get to where he is today!
David Feherty has done it all – and lived to tell about it. PRNewsFoto/Hyundai/Getty
Next year, golf is returning to the Olympics for the first time in more than a century. And a Vandyke-bearded bipolar alcoholic who sometimes covers PGA tournaments while dressed as a pirate will be doing the play-by-play.
“I’ve never been sure about the whole drug-testing aspect of the Olympics,” says David Feherty, 57. A former European Tour player from Northern Ireland. Whose training regimen once included weed, cocaine and a daily dose of 40 Vicodin and two and a half bottles of whiskey. “If they come up with a drug that helps you play golf better, I am going to be so pissed – I looked for that for years.”
Feherty is a smart, funny, wild card whose cult celebrity is transcending the sport in the staid world of pro golf.
He covers PGA tournaments while describing a player as having “a face like a warthog stung by a wasp” on live TV. Does standup, writes bestselling novels and hosts a Golf Channel show where he gets guests like Bill Clinton and Larry David to open up about their games and lives.
Feherty’s secret? Sober since 2005, he’s now got nothing to hide. “One of the advantages of having a fucked-up life is that other people are more comfortable telling you about theirs,” he says. “I see from a different side of the street than most people.”
Born on the outskirts of Belfast, Feherty turned pro at 18 and quickly embraced the European Tour’s hard-living lifestyle. In 1986, after winning the Scottish Open in Glasgow, he went on a bender and awoke two days later on a putting green 150 miles away. Alongside Led Zeppelin’s road manager, with no recollection of getting there or what happened to his silver trophy.
Once while playing in the Swedish Open, he went out for a drink and arose the next day in Denmark. “After that, I always kept $600 in my wallet,” he says, “because that’s exactly what it cost me to get back to the golf club just in time to miss my starting time.”
After a middling pro career, he became a PGA Tour commentator in 1997. Eventually moving to Dallas, raising a family, getting diagnosed with bipolar disorder and sobering up. An insomniac who still struggles with depression – “I get overwhelmed by sadness several times a day and spend a lot of time in tears”
Feherty has managed to achieve success by channeling his restlessness into his work.
“I now take 14 pills a day – antidepressants, mood stabilizers and amphetamines,” he says. “The Adderall is enough to tear most people off the ceiling, but I can take a nap.”
For Feherty, 2016 will be a turning point. After 19 years working as a commentator for CBS, he’ll move to NBC – a transition that allows him to take his talent beyond the fairways. In addition to the Olympics, he’ll cover the international Ryder Cup and other tournaments while continuing to host his talk show – and is even looking to conquer new sports.
“Remember Fred Willard in Best in Show?” he asks. “If there’s a place somewhere for a golf analyst where no technical knowledge is required, I would love to jump in – I just want to be challenged again.”
As he prepares for the next chapter in his improbable career, Feherty spoke to Rolling Stone about partying like a rock star, cultivating his rumpled mystique and changing the face of golf.
A lot of musicians are also avid golfers – why do you think that is?
So many musicians play golf, especially people in rock & roll. But most of them use golf as an alternative to drugs and alcohol. I think for addicts, spare time is their worst enemy. And you know, golf takes up time. Actually it’s one of the problems with the game, but it works in our favor.
There’s a lot of talks these days about trying to make golf faster. To attract younger viewers and get more people playing. Does the sport need to change to survive?
Golf has always gone against the image that it’s for rich white men, and to a certain extent, it is, but before Sam Snead it was a bunch of twitty old duffers smoking pipes and wearing jackets. Sam Snead really made it look like an athletic pastime. Arnold Palmer kind of started the modern era – he made it sexy back in the ’50s and ’60s. And Tiger Woods reinvented the game.
We’re seeing the effect of that now, with these youngsters that have come up. Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth and Jason Day and Rickie Fowler, and dozens more of these colorful characters. They were 9, 10, 11 years old when Tiger Woods was on his feet, and they’re making the game cool again. Golf reinvents itself every 20 or 30 years or so.
Thirty years ago, you won the Scottish Open – then woke up two days later on a green alongside Led Zeppelin’s former road manager. Can you tell the story there?
Well, I won the 1986 Scottish Open and it seemed like a good idea. That was back when I was really just getting into not just golf and being successful, but the rush of performing in front of a bunch of people and applause and adulation. I didn’t know it at the time, but I’m bipolar and it was something to deal with the strangeness in my life. I was an addict to pain killers fairly early.
You know, “comfortably numb,” as Pink Floyd put it. And I’m Northern Irish, so I remember the last physical with my doctor where alcohol became a problem. He looked at the numbers and said, “Hey, have you ever thought about getting help?” And I said, “No, I can drink it all by myself.”
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Personally, I can’t wait. David Feherty is not only the funniest man in golf, but he is also an excellent analyst of tour golf.
Feherty’s new move to NBC Sports has him calling the golf events in Rio de Janeiro at next summers’ Olympics. (His popular interview program “Feherty’ will continue on the Golf Channel)
Even as he was being interviewed about this big announcement, Commentating on Olympic Golf, Feherty joked about failing Olympic drug testing with his psych meds and divulged that his grandfather competed in the 1908 Olympics.
David Feherty’s deal with NBC, which begins next year, will let him expand beyond reporting from along fairways and behind greens. Credit Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Golf announcers do not often defect from one network to another, so David Feherty’s move from CBS Sports to NBC and Golf Channel is unusual.
Jim McKay made a move from CBS more than a half-century ago to join Roone Arledge’s fledgling ABC Sports. Steve Melnyk also left CBS for ABC in the early 1990s. More recently, Ian Baker-Finch made the reverse move, departing ESPN and ABC for CBS.
An on-course reporter for 19 years at CBS, Feherty is known for his Irish accent and off-kilter approach to golf commentary, as well as for speaking candidly about his depression and alcoholism.
“I’m nervous about this, and I’m hoping they don’t drug-test announcers, because I would fail on several counts with the psych meds that I have to take, especially at the Olympics,” he said Tuesday during a conference call. “I think I’m probably doomed if they do that there.”
David Feherty is the host of a new show on the Golf Channel. On Par: 30 Seconds With David Feherty.
Soon after announcing the deal, he wrote on Twitter: “After 19 great years at CBS today I’ve signed a new deal with @GolfChannel and @NBCSports. Which one of them will fire me first?”
He has been familiar to Golf Channel viewers through his interview program, “Feherty,” which is in its fifth season as one of the network’s most popular prime-time shows. CBS had no problem sharing him with Golf Channel but chose not to pay him what he wanted to stay on its golf schedule.
NBC saw a chance to pick up a star commentator to add to an announcing corps that features Johnny Miller and includes Roger Maltbie and Gary Koch, who are reducing their workload.
8 Top Golf Commentators that make us watch golf on TV!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
Stories of sub-plots abound with the loss of David Feherty from CBS.
Top-ranked golf commentators are hot property and are worth their weight in gold to the networks they work for—some more than others. CBS obviously thought they could do without Feherty, who wanted more work “in the booth” and a higher salary. (which I’m sure he will get elsewhere). There are the legends like Henry Longhurst, (my favorite) Peter Alliss, and Pat Summerall; there are the commentators some people love and some hate, like Johnny Miller and Greg Norman.
Feherty is not on either list. Almost everybody loves him, but he has not yet reached the status of the three aforementioned broadcasters. This is his chance to take it to the next level. I, for one, cannot wait to see the outcome! Thanks to Golf Digest and Joel Beall for this interesting story!
A glance at Golf Digest’s Facebook page shows fans are none too pleased with CBS Sports’ apparent decision to part ways with on-course reporter David Feherty. While some looked at the Northern Irishman’s commentary as sacrilegious, there’s no denying that Feherty’s outlook was unique, and frankly, an imaginative take on a sport that’s notoriously conservative.
In honor of Feherty, here are eight of the more unique personalities that have graced golf broadcasts:
Henry Longhurst.
Henry Longhurst, British golf writer and commentator, during the US Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Club in Georgia, circa April 1971. (Photo by Leonard Kamsler/Popperfoto via Getty Images)
A golf correspondent for The Sunday Times, Longhurst penned a dozen books throughout his life, and once served as a member of parliament during World War II. However, Longhurst is best known as one of the first voices involved in golf broadcasting, and as such, played an indelible role in the shaping of the sport’s coverage. Longhurst worked on golf broadcasts for 20 years, from the late 1950s until his death in 1978. He famously called Jack Nicklaus’ 40-foot putt on the 16th hole at the 1975 Masters:”My, my…in all my life I have never seen a putt quite like that.”
Johnny Miller.
Miller was a fine player in his own right, racking up 25 wins, two majors and one of the best final rounds in championship history, but is best known to contemporary golf audiences as NBC’s color commentator. Miller has become known — some would even say infamous — for his candor, which has drawn ire from tour players throughout the years. Nevertheless, his ability to convey both a golf course’s subtleties and the mechanics and fundamentals of the sport to the common man are unparalleled.
Peter Alliss.
One of the fewer announcers who doesn’t hyperbolize the present. Can spout out historical facts as if he’s reading from a book. He’s facetious without the snark. And if he does offend — which he occasionally does — he doesn’t give a damn.
Or, we could just say his nickname is “the Voice of Golf.” Enough said.
Pat Summerall.
Ken Venturi, Pat Summerall
PGA TOUR
Photo by Jeff McBride/PGA TOUR Archive
To a certain generation, Summerall was known for many years as the monotone narrator of the “Madden” NFL video game franchise (as well as Golden Tee!). Yet, despite his career as a NFL player, he seamlessly transitioned to golf, and was an integral part of the sport for 30 years. Summerall worked his first Masters in 1968, and was at Augusta every year until 1994. The brevity and booming inflection was apropos for golf.
Golf’s hottest property is not Spieth or Day – It’s David Feherty!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
The apparent departure of David Feherty after 19 years walking the fairways for CBS and filling the airways with clever comments has created yet another fight in a seemingly endless battle for content and talent among networks vying for the most valuable property in entertainment — live sports.
Even as word spread that talks between CBS and Andrew Elkin, Feherty’s agent for Creative Artists Agency (CAA), had broken down, CBS supplied only a polite “no comment” when asked about the matter by GolfDigest.com.
NBC/Golf Channel, owned by Comcast, and Fox Sports, considered the main suitors for Feherty’s talents, also responded with a “no comment.” Contacted through NBC/Golf Channel, Feherty also chose not to respond.
But industry insiders with knowledge of the situation said the fight for Feherty would intensify the already bitter battle between Fox Sports and NBC/GC, which is still licking its wounds after losing the USGA contract to Fox, a network that this year became a newcomer to golf.
Multiple sources say the CBS situation was soured by the two factors: Feherty wanted a booth job rather than roaming the fairways, but Nick Faldo already shares that duty with Jim Nantz. CAA was demanding a salary figure CBS was unwilling to meet.
David Feherty’s best quotes ever – There will be more to come!
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
When David Feherty first came on the air, I did not like him much.
I thought his act was too slapstick and unprofessional. However, the mark of a great man in any endeavor is the ability to change for the better, and David did just that! I came to really love his on-course comments, which were always unique, and his irreverent, self-deprecating humor. I think CBS has made a HUGE blunder by letting David go, and David will land on his feet anywhere he goes. Stay tuned for more on this interesting man! Thanks to GOLF.com‘s Sean Zak for bringing us this great piece of David’s quotes!
David Feherty’s stint as an on-course analyst/reporter for CBS is reportedly over, removing his light-hearted analysis from the telecast after 19 years.
We surely haven’t seen the last of the 57-year-old former player, who also has a show with Golf Channel, but some of his best quips and stories came during portions of CBS broadcasts. Here are some of his best one-liners:
On Tiger Woods:
“I just stood there watching him walk past and thinking, ‘I don’t know what that is, but I know there weren’t two of them on Noah’s Ark.’”
On his caddie, Rodney Wooler, and him being on the same page:
“Not only was Rodney never on the same page as me, he was seldom in the same book and often not even in the same library.”
On quitting drinking:
“I didn’t quit drinking because I was a bad drunk. I quit because I was a spectacular drunk. It got to be like a video game, where you get to the highest level and it’s not even a challenge anymore.”
On an errant shot:
“That ball is so far left Lassie couldn’t find it even if it was wrapped in bacon.”
On a beautiful day of weather:
“The only way to ruin a day like this would be to play golf in it.”
On golf:
“One minute you’re bleeding. The next minute you’re hemorrhaging. The next minute you’re painting the Mona Lisa.”
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
“Amazing Shots by Tiger Woods” could be a best selling book, but this is a new series that I will be featuring each month on the unbelievable shots that Tiger Woods has played throughout his career.
This opening video happened at Firestone at the Bridgestone Invitational in 2008. Thanks to legbreakgoogly for posting this entertaining video!
David Feherty tells a funny story about a spectacualar shot that Tiger Woods hit. Tigers ball was in wet, nasty, horrible, six inch rough. Truly buried, and 190 yards away from the hole. Everybody figures that with a stick of dynamite he might be able to move the ball 50 yards… What does he do? Something that only Tiger can do – he nukes a pitching wedge 6 feet from the hole! One of the most extraordinary shots I have ever seen! And I know for a fact that what Ernie Els said (the part that has been censored) was “F*ck me! Did you see that??”… 🙂
Who are the very Best and very Worst Golf Announcers?
Golf Chats is a website to encourage discussions on various subjects relating to the game of golf. I am Mel Sole, Director of Instruction of the Mel Sole Golf School and SAPGA Master Professional. I invite you to enter into a discussion on this or any article on the golfchats.com website. The input is for the entire subscriber base to learn something new each time! Please post your comments below. Keep it clean and tasteful. We are here to learn from one another!
This topic produces wildly varying opinions.
Seems that some of you love Johnny Miller, Nick Faldo, David Feherty, etc., and some of you think they are hacks! (or worse)
Who do you like to listen to when watching coverage of your favorite tournament? Tell me why they impress you or turn you off. You can include past announcers, as some of the writers below have done, in addition to current commentators.
Miller is a man among boys in this business. Always insightful, consistently makes great calls, not afraid to be politically incorrect. Oddly subversive for a straight laced Mormon type. Drives 120 mph in his Ferrari to church.
Full disclosure: one of his from-the-booth golf tips solved an early release problem in my golf swing that dropped my handicap from 12 to eight. I should send the guy a freakin’ check.
I know he has an army of detractors, but that’s probably a good sign. He’s not trying to please everybody
Jim Nantz.
Cool and corporate compared to Miller, the hot instigator. Best voice, though, which counts extra for the play by play guy. Likeable for some reason you can’t put your finger on. Miller and Nantz together would be a dream team.
Dan Hicks.
Solid play by play.
Nick Faldo.
Nothing brilliant going on between the ears here, but pleasant enough personality. He’s slightly clever without being annoying. Not being annoying counts for a lot. If you sit down and watch an entire tournament, these guys are on air for as much as 16 hours.
David Feherty.
Legitimately amusing.
WORST
Gary McCord.
Not funny. Not cool. Aging wanna-be frat boy. Pathetic case of arrested development.
Paul Azinger.
Fortunately, lost his job. Still shows up occasionally on the Golf Channel and the odd ABC telecast. He has all the negative qualities of Dennis Miller without the redemptive wit.
Mike Tirico.
Lost his job wiith Azinger when the PGA cancelled ABC’s contract. He’s now being gradually drummed out of TV football broadcasting into radio. Smart enough guy with a slick delivery, but unlikeable. Way too nerdy.
Chris Berman.
I know he only gets an hour or so every year, and even then only when ABC/ESPN gets the U.S. Open. But even a couple of hours a year of Chris Berman calling golf is a crime against broadcasting.
Kelly Tilghman.
She’s not awful, but in over her head. It’s a tougher job than you think. Would be fine walking the fairways and doing the side commentary. If they need a token woman, put Dottie Pepper or Judy Rankis in there.
Please Note: These are the opinions of Lou Vozza and bleacherreport.com and not of Mel Sole or The Mel Sole Golf School. This article was curated from bleacherreport.com, and all credits go to them! I have removed inappropriate comments regarding Paul Azinger. This is not a political forum! Lou Vozza will no longer be featured on golfchats.com
