FanHouse DavidFeherty

Despite five wins on the European Tour during his 20-year professional career, most people know David Feherty as the on-course analyst for CBS' golf coverage. He's fantastic at his current gig, though occasionally his political views obscure his television work.

Feherty is in Sioux Falls, SD this week to headline the South Dakota Make-a-Wish Foundation's annual golf tournament (it's his ninth straight appearance), and in an interview with the Argus Leader's Mick Garry he talked about his controversial comments regarding the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader.

More interesting, though, Feherty also defended Tiger Woods' British Open performance.

On behalf of David Feherty, I'd like to apologize for the following column. It again takes shots at House Mis-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, not to mention her fellow victims of CIA subterfuge, Roger Clemens, Tim Floyd and Mine That Bird.

Who knew the CIA was plotting to overthrow the Preakness? You will after reading the latest installment of Week in Review.

Each Wednesday during the golf season, FanHouse will list the top five names in golf and why they're important. Did Barack play 18 with Tiger? Did a certain player do something controversial off the course? Or was just playing golf enough to get the pot stirring? Join us for a new weekly ranking feature we call Making the Cut.

5. Tony Romo -- He might have failed to qualify for the Byron Nelson Championship, but Romo reminded us yet again that he is the best golfing quarterback in the world. Also, he reminded us that even the top tier athletes can utterly choke it on the golf course. Two-over par with three holes to play, Romo could have thrown in a couple of birdies and hoped even par would get into the next stage of qualifying. A triple-bogey followed by closing bogeys was visual evidence that our affection towards golf can change from love to hate quicker than a hook will snap.

The FanHouse Podcast: Because bloggers are much sexier on the phone.

There's a lull in the sporting world in terms of exciting things to talk about (well, OK, that's only because we refuse to talk about Manny Ramirez or Brett Favre and the NBA crew has Kenyon Martin and Mark Cuban pretty much sewn up) so we did what anyone else would do: we invited* Tiger Woods on the show. Tiger declined* but we forged on and just talked about him behind his back instead: specifically, are top 10 finishes good enough for El Tigre. Also, Ryan and I discuss David Feherty's aggressive writing style as well as what sort of characteristics define a hateable professional athlete.

In an effort to keep our golf visitors well informed on what is going on around the Internet, Range Balls is our weekly link dump. Every Tuesday during golf season, we will toss out some of the most interesting things we came across. If you have a tip, e-mail us at fanhousegolf@gmail.com. Enjoy the links.

-- After recent comments by David Feherty that have certain people a little ticked off, Devil Ball Golf put together a list of announcing slip-ups and how those situations played out. Oh, and a quick note to Feherty -- if you're going to be the funny guy, try to avoid assassination jokes. Just a thought. [Devil Ball Golf]

Goodbye David Feherty.

We all believe in freedom of speech, and anyone can get a good laugh when the comic golf analyst makes his wacky comments. But he blew it this time, and CBS needs to take real action. Now. That means firing him, or at least suspending him for a long, long time.

Here's his latest:

"From my own experience visiting troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this though. Despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, there's a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death."

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Phil Mickelson was the favorite heading into the PGA Championship probably because he's the world's second-best player (well, before yesterday, anyway), has won two of his three majors at the event, and, really, who else had a better shot?

It wouldn't have surprised me if Lefty won the whole thing, but I also remember thinking that he could just as easily miss the cut. Well, he made it to the weekend, but couldn't make a run, and ended up finishing tied for seventh. All in all, a solid showing, but not really all that exciting, at least if you're CBS and concerned with ratings.

But Crowne Plaza, which has blanketed the airwaves with a Philbert-centric ad campaign, did manage to keep Mickelson's mug on teevee screens even as the network focused on Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia. And of all the spots, this is easily the funniest (although, there is something to be said for David Feherty asking Lefty if he won the 2006 U.S. Open):



Ditto. Hilarious.

When Tiger Woods made the turn at even par, 5-under for the tournament, I wondered if 8-under would be enough to challenge the seemingly unshakable Trevor Immelman, 11-under at the time.

Turns out, 8-under would've put Eldrick in a playoff with Immelman, who had all four wheels come off at the par-3 16th. Looking a lot like Greg Norman in 1996, Immelman dumped his tee shot into the pond fronting the green and made double-bogey. What looked like an insurmountable six-shot lead was suddenly reduced to three when Woods, after missing just about every putt he looked at all week, drained an eight-footer on the18th.

Immelman limped through 17, saving par on a nice up-and-down from the bunker. He then striped his tee shot on the 18th -- and let out a visible sigh, as if to say, "I think I've endured the worst of it" -- only to reach his ball and find it sitting in divot. No worries, however; Immelman mustered the focus for one more shot, stiffing his approach to some 10 feet. Two putts later, you got your 2008 Masters champion.

An hour ago, I was all set to write that the old sports saying about winning everywhere but on the scoreboard didn't apply this week given Immelman's dominant performance. I suppose it still applies, even if the 72nd Masters champ was only dominant through 69 holes. It turned out to be more than enough.

David Feherty is less than a month removed from getting treaded by a truck while riding his bicycle. His goal was to be ready in time for The Masters, and he's done that. Still, he's not completely healthy -- not even close, actually -- and talked to the Dallas Morning News' Barry Horn about the last month of his life.

Recovering from three broken ribs, a separated shoulder, a punctured lung and a scrambled elbow, Feherty is learning how painful climbing a ladder to a television tower can be. He already knew that springtime pollen can force a man to his knees. A simple sneeze can send shockwaves through his body.

To that end ... Feherty is broadcasting this weekend from behind a surgical mask that he prays will keep all airborne irritants out of his nose. There is a cutout hole around his mouth that allows his words to be heard beyond the CBS tower at the 15th hole.

Horn also points out that Feherty, who's easily the funniest guy among his CBS' golf counterparts (which I guess is kinda like being the skinniest kid at fat camp), also battles depression and alcoholism. And while he was laid up in the hospital, he was desperately afraid he might get addicted to pain killers. So far, so good.

If there's a bright side to almost dying, at least as it relates to work, it's this: The Masters doesn't allow on-course reporters, Feherty's usual responsibilities. Instead, he's relegated to the tower, which means less chance of re-injuring himself (particularly, battling the early-morning crowd patrons). Assuming he doesn't sneeze, of course.

Last month, CBS golf analyst David Feherty was riding his bicycle when he got taken out by a truck. I suspected the stuffed-shirt mafia was behind it, but it reality, it was probably just your garden-variety hit-and-run.

Feherty got pretty roughed up -- "[I got] six inches from having my head crushed like an egg" -- and suffered some broken ribs and a punctured lung. Initially, it wasn't clear how long Feherty would be out, but apparently the answer is "three weeks."

So now, a day before The Masters, he's completely recovered -- or at least recovered enough to go to work. It's not the best venue to showcase his talents; Augusta National is a lot of things, but a comedy showcase isn't one of them, and that's what Feherty brings to telecasts.

The 49-year-old native of Northern Ireland said he's been "overwhelmed" by the outpouring of support that has come his way, including some moving sentiments from his counterparts at NBC. While Feherty was recovering, he received calls from Johnny Miller and Roger Maltbie, both of whom offered their well wishes on the air during last month's CA Championship at Doral.

Regardless, a reserved Feherty is miles better than just about everybody else. Oh, and more good news: Chris Berman still isn't on the property.