David Feherty | GOLF Originals, Ep.1

When you think of golf “originals,” who first springs to mind? For us, it was David Feherty, the endlessly colorful player-turned-commentator, who’s now calling the shots for LIV Golf.

For that reason, Feherty was the ideal debut subject for our all-new video series, GOLF Originals with Michael Bamberger, in which we’ll strive to show the inner lining of wonderful and interesting people in the game, some famous, some obscure, some in between.

Bamberger met Feherty in Las Vegas during Super Bowl week earlier this year and took him to Psychic Eye Book Shop, a self-described “occult-oriented shop offering books, candles, incense & herbs, plus psychic readings & classes.” Feherty was down with it, and we think you will be, too — not just with this episode but with all of them, as Bamberger canvasses the golf world to tell the stories of golf’s original thinkers.
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I would say the starting point for we’re trying to do is tell a story about a person that will reveal the person and you know touch how golf intersects with that person’s life golf has a tremendous capacity to create characters in the game and then I started noticing it when

We go out to be honest I didn’t love it I saw both sides of it the public what we hope to do in this series is find some of golf’s great original thinkers explore their lives for the benefit of our audience at times he can be a at other times he’s absolutely

Brilliant he’s so good with people who are odd just to talk to him he makes them feel relaxed and important I’ve always loved that about Him we were so lucky to get David fary as our first guest because his life in golf is just so deeply compelling truly an original you could not map out David far’s life and far’s path is based on athletic skill and wit and quick thinking so it’s such an unlikely thing

That there we are showing up and this second he sat down in the car we could see that he was in a serious contemplative mood and he just told us yeah he put his his 92-year-old mother in to use the phrase words he used paliative care you know what we think of

As ppus it was really interesting on the most basic human level were you a verbal kid I imagine yes and clearly intelligent but struggling in classes you didn’t like you know they made fun of me and and how did your mom handled that kind of how

Did she handle that she was stoic my father was much more emotional you know my mom you know if we fell down and cut ourselves she’d rub a piece of dirt in it you know like walk it off uh um and you know she never really uh got

Involved with with that kind of thing you know that was just something that I had to deal with um and my father was unaware of it so one thing you pick up on reading John Feinstein’s book about farity is that he had undiagnosed add as

A kid so you can imagine for this David far even with all his various gifts he was always sort of a Misfit and you can see that throughout his life and that’s been a great gift to him and a great challenge as well the nicer teachers would write David you know

Could do better if he tries harder right you know that kind of thing meanwhile I’m trying as hard as I can and uh I I ended up making fun of myself makebe you turn because I was better than they were uh you know and that uh that was my self-defense Oh I remember being two miles take exit 42a to merge onto us95 North toward Reno where the are we going half a mile turn left on to W Drive are we in Reno Yet I know we were heading in that direction yeah like that but just kind of explain that situation kind of give some context around him when he’s at the clubhouse um just you know kind of talk about that for a bit after this Tru passes something called psychic readings

Oh maybe we can get a psychic rating as well one when I first quote met farity and saw him in action this is very hopeful bber maybe could be the cure to all my ills if the shop is open that would be a positive nor iseland there were

Catholics from the Republic of Ireland all on the European tour at the time and it was often a topic of it just seemed like a fit fortunately I always travel with at least $600 in cash what is your interest in having a psychic breeding uh it’s never really occurred to me

Yeah where are the books for you and for David it was really odd and interesting to hear far talk about his move from CBS to NBC and then to live golf any man who’s happy to be off in the UN this is uh so maybe the these you know these

Represent I don’t know if you’ve ever seen any anient astronauts you know that are Ancient Aliens yes you know the the winged gods and all the rest that’s uh I mean I’m a huge believer in that you know I do not think we were the first people here you

Know are fting too pyramids are fascinating oh yeah like we did that yeah yeah Easter Island yeah those things they weigh 60 tons how the hell did they get there yeah we did that no we had uh somebody else involved that’s for sure the book that did most for me was

The way of the Peaceful Warrior Dan milman I don’t know you don’t know Dan milman was an Olympic uh I want to say it was trampoline which is a ridiculous Olympic Pursuit but uh he uh the the way of the Peaceful Warrior was uh Gulf in the Kingdom uh the inner

Game of Gulf you know it was all that kind of thing that Eastern philosophy I must read it again sports psychologists are all the same you know they’re uh they’re basically parasites you know they they tell people the same thing you stay in the present that’s what you do you concentrate on

What you’re doing here and no you know and there are certain tricks you know to where you can fool yourself into actually doing it you know um but that’s that’s all sports psychology is my old uh teacher Fred Dy when I became assistant pro at uh Fred won the

Open in 47 that’s amazing and uh yeah and it is amazing that he wanted because he was a drunk and uh he had a I’ll tell you a great story about Fred where I I got drawn with him and he was kind of a a ceremonial presence in the Irish open

The first Irish open I played him was 76 uh at Port marck and I got drawn with Fred who was kind of a throwaway at this stage whatever we get to the sixth hole of par five and uh he’s hit it in a bunker just short of the green big deep

Cavernous bunker you know and I’m waiting on on the green you know for him to play and he plays this kind of average shot out and he climbs out of the bunker you know and he knocks the sand off his shoes he says you know he

Says I play golf just as well as I ever did just a bit smaller he says but I can’t get out of bunkers the way I used to I said well Mr daily you know have you thought about trying one of these new like really

Lofted sand wedges he says no no he says I can get the ball out I can’t get out of bunkers it cracked me up for the rest of the round you know he was a great character he really was you know it’s interesting to say about uh Fred D John dly yourself and

You know many other great of the years uh the game is a wash in alcohol isn’t it oh yes yeah absolutely well you know when I played it was uh you know you you you you practiced hard you know you worked hard you know you couldn’t get to where we were

Without you know doing the work but boy we did the play as well yeah yeah we really did I wouldn’t change it for a minute yeah I wouldn’t do anything different if I if I were to go back you know because I I wouldn’t end up right here

Yeah that’s the thing and man it was fun the beginning sum it was fun that is only going to be know we we grew up Protestant uh we had a Roman Catholic Family on the other side of the wall you know and uh did you see uh Belfast Kenneth

Bris that that was my childhood right there you know my parents had exactly the same attitude as you know it doesn’t matter what people believe you know they’re welcome for those who don’t know the trouble is referred to a a long bloody period um in Irish history of Protestants and Catholics uh fighting

But there really is absolutely nothing Charming or glorious or anything about it it’s religious Warfare as we’ve seen Through the Ages we didn’t see much violence or unrest and Banger um I mean there was the occasional bomb and you know that kind of thing sounds ridiculous yeah but uh you know my

Parents were were uh they weren’t particularly religious we did I mean I went to church every every Sunday and choir practice every Wednesday and uh you know things in between we’d sing at weddings and stuff like that you know but it was never it was never uh my

Father always said you know what you earn and what you believe in or your own business you know and uh you know I kind of carried that with me too you know because I’m I’m not religious um I’m I’m not sure that I’m courageous enough to be an atheist but I’m certainly agnostic

Mhm you know the time that I was in Belfast uh at B Marl I was 2 years there while I was getting onto the the European tour the clubhouse was blown up twice um you know and it was just uh it was part of everyday life I look back on

It you know we were in a war zone yeah and uh it just uh but the ter ISM back then had a certain it’s the wrong way to put it I can’t think of the right way to put it you know that they were kind of gentleman about it yeah you know they

Would of time they would call you up and say hey there’s a bomb in your Clubhouse get the out you know so we got the out but they still blew the clubhouse up you’re right almost everybody works in TV has a path so how did it come to be that he

Left NBC Sports to go to live go I was really curious to learn more as developed as you are you’ve spent a lot of time in therapy you have a psychiatrist you think about a lot of different things you’ve made a lot of money I presume why would money be a motivator

So yeah you’re really truth well well I mean yeah money was you know one of the main motivators but it was also the opportunity to be a lead analyst you know I mean that me meant a great deal to me because you know I I I spent 20

Years on the grind you know I spent you know years in the booth you know in Satellite towers and all the rest but the opportunity you know to sit at 18 and and and do you know what a Paul ainger or a Nick falo or to have that

Role that meant a great deal to me you know it meant a great deal that that that someone would think highly enough of me that I were able to do that you know Greg you know called me and said you know we want you to be our our main

Guy you know that was uh that that meant a lot to me it really did you know yeah the money was one thing but this was another side of it yeah mhm how is it working out for you it’s been fantastic really yeah um I mean I’m

Nervous uh I do I do a standup show uh around the country you know like a two-hour oneman show um and I’m terrified every time I go on stage but I got to remind myself you know that I want the responsibility you know that I

Want that I want I need to be in that place where I know I’m going to be uncomfortable and that’s that’s the same every time I walk into the you know the studio uh at 18 you know I feel that same kind of hollow oness you know where

I think today could be the day I up you know but I’m not going to yeah cuz I know You’ said that about yourself in your own career that that open that Nick price won when he went crazy at the end but you were there for about 70 holes 60

Holes yeah there was always a point you know um I mean I had a chance at uh 91 of the PGA Championship you know the one that John Daly won I finished fifth or sixth or something there and I finished fourth at Turnberry and sixth at trun

There was always a pivotal moment you know in that back nine or somewhere on the golf course you know where I thought you know if I make this or if I do this I could win this thing and I never did that thing uh you know I never did that

Thing right um I I at that particular point you know I didn’t want the responsibility that came with making that putt or hitting that shot right you know and it’s only looking backwards at my career that I realized that right David far could flat out play golf so

People you know under the age of 35 are going to have no concept to him as a player but having seen it up close he had all the shots he had length he had a stylish swing now his TV career is so overshadowed his plane career but he was

An elite player how do you compare the electricity of the club in hand versus the microphone are they are they similar for you are they different they’re both tools of performance yeah um they’re they’re similar and that you can make a fool of yourself really easily

Um but it was easier to be a hero with the club MH you know um yeah it was easier to to be the champion or to be the hero or you know the microphone is is one of those things people people remember what you said people come up to me and and

Say you know I can’t remember or I I I remember the time that you said this I don’t remember it you know but when they tell me what it was yeah that sounds like me uhhuh yeah oh there are books truth the brief history of total I’ve actually heard of this book which

Is quite amazing there’s any book you could yeah I mean I’m interested in this because post truth World nature Your Truth telling I’m I’m getting This the the fairity show on Golf Channel was like nothing else that Golf Channel had it was truly original programming F had this ability to keep everything on a light level even when he was going to something really deep but because he’s fundamentally such a kind person his interview subjects were right

There with him and it was really a special show I was surprised to learn that he did 160 of them that’s a lot of work I was interested to hear I didn’t realize how many shows you had done a far I think 150 I think John BR yeah 160 160 and um

And but never got tiger yeah what was what is is that frustrating for you or I never asked him okay I never asked him because you to make the asks yourself oh yes yeah quite frequently certainly if it was a player um but I never felt it was the right

Time MH to do the interview that I wanted to do with them I didn’t want the ESPN or the Oprah thing or the you know an apology for this or you know an excuse for that or the sort of thing you know I the interviews that I did

You know it it would have been really hard I think for him n you know I I think would probably be a good time yeah you know for him be much more retrospective and uh you know less defensive maybe you know if he were to

Do it now if I know him the way I think I know him yeah so what what are what are examples of where oh because I did the show or anything else for that matter I got to see I got to see let’s say Arnold in a way others did not had

An insight into Arnold yeah I you know I played with Arnold three times in my career I mean I I was luy people forget how long I played you know how early I started late yeah and um I remember the first time that I met him I I remember

Shaking hands with him and he was just one of those people I’ve only felt it in less than a handful of people in in my life you know the same kind of warmth or electricity or whatever I sure kind hands with Nelson Mandela I sh hands with Bill

Clinton um with Arnold with Bill Russell um just people you know you’re in the presence of greatness the minute you you you get within their Aura you know there’s I mean I can feel the hair standing up on my arms now just thinking about you know Arnold um he was so

Special and I it was that was my one regret you know uh for the show was I never had him on really yeah that was the he was the person and you know he he was past it was almost past being Arnold by the time that we got around to

Thinking about it and there was the relationship with the Golf Channel it wasn’t great either you know um his own relationship with Golf Channel wasn’t great by that point yeah I did not realize it yeah yeah so um yeah I mean Arnold was was my one great regret you know without show

It was the person that I didn’t get to because I adored him um and uh you know I I left it too long to ask him yeah you know but because I I was afraid that that my uh you know I I don’t want to come across as somebody who worships the

Their subject yeah you know that that that’s a mistake for an interviewer and I I would have find that very difficult to do with Arnold yeah you know I adored him so much Yeah did we hear Keith Richard say that having a guitar in his hand is like trying to hold an electric eel yeah yeah Keith Richard once told me to uh now hold it that’s a great start to any sentence right yeah I I was at uh do you

Remember the the comedy je Peter Cook and Dudley Moore yes well cookie was a great friend of La Lawrence Ley yes the you remember Lawrence Ley the photographer Peter Cook lived in the same Muse as uh as Lawrence did in London and Hamstead and uh we were invited along with Lawrence you

Know to this party at Cookie’s house and several of the Rolling Stones were there there was Ron Wood and Jagger wasn’t there but uh Keith Richards was uh was there and uh I had never asked anybody for an autograph in my life but you know Keith Richards was one of my heroes for

A couple of reasons you know me the musician that he was and the fact that he was still alive You know despite what the what he’d done to himself you know I thought this man is just a God and uh I’m I’m around the corner from where he

Is talking with Ron Wood and a couple of girls you know that sort of thing and I’ve got the I torn the the uh pad off off the telephone pad and I’ve got the pen and I’m a but trying to pluck up courage to go around the corner when all

Of a sudden this something bounces on the floor in front of me it’s brown and round about the size of a golf ball so I bent down and I picked it up and it’s a ball of hash like this so I’m holding it and and right at that moment on his hands and

Knees Keith Richards comes around the corner like this you know and I looked at him I said can I help you and he looked at me and he said off so I did with the ball of hash and it lasted me about six weeks yeah so that was my

One claim to fame with Keith Richards he told me to off in Hamstead yeah seven medals Tibetan singing bowl okay right used for frequency heating frequency heating H oh I love that chair High Priestess alter chair please do not sit okay fair enough if you bring it home do you think

You can sit in the chair or is it just a that’s a good point yeah maybe it’s just one yeah my my grand had Furniture like that you know no you don’t be sitting there you know the pope might show up tomorrow yeah Celtic lore and spellcraft an new Earth Magic spell there’s

A an occult flavor here where’d he go so I’ve been thinking about writing again yeah I enjoyed you know I wrote the back page for Golf Magazine for 15 years and I enjoyed having done it I really didn’t enjoy the process yeah of doing it I’m sure you’re familiar you know with that

It’s like going to the gym or running or whatever yeah it was nice that I did that I I think I could write again you know given the it’s always I always have to have my back to the wall mhm for anything to happen mhm not so much now but you know

When I retire what the hell am I going to do yeah you know I may I may that’s a theme in fine scenes book you need to be occupied yeah I do I you know this last 3 months the offseason is just it’s not

Good for me uh it’s not good at all but spare time is the addict’s worst enemy mhm you know burnout at the hands of diet self-help and hustle culture yeah tired as it’s good yeah dreams that can save your life there’s some interesting stuff here it really is

Yeah well this one’s been underlined and I have no idea if this is true what I’m going to say but I think maybe Gary m group the idiots got call he did yes and no one more qualified I can assure you yeah he did yeah or was it golfer

Dummies oh maybe that’s it it was one or the other yeah yeah similar sort of Thing is the Super Bowl meaning meaningful to you though um you know I’m I I wrote a piece for my uh sort of bit about football basically trashing it um you know I I it’s it’s a great game but I can’t take a celebration I can’t take it it

Makes me want to shoot the TV you know you got eight guys river dancing their way through the End Zone to the point that one of them needs oxygen you know Christ act like you did it once before you know it’s the behavior we find repulsive in our children yeah you know

That we’re watching them it’s it’s everything in Modern Life me me me me me look at me look at me look at me exactly Yeah oh well I’m in a lane where there’s nothing but parked cars that might well my room is only half a mile from the driving I did today this is actually above aage no I I’m very impressed by it it could do a lot worse yeah great to be it Did