In 1991, I saw David Feherty for the first time. Being half-crazy and full of charm, he was in charge of any bus that took golfers and caddies from a city hotel to a European Tour event. He was good at talking about politics in Belfast, stand-up comedy, the Three Tenors, the late-night pub scene in Barcelona, and anything that had to do with Seve. He had a lot of charm and was also very good-looking. That last part was how my wife saw him.
I was a caddy for Peter Teravainen at the time. Peter was a European Tour veteran from Massachusetts, and his golf skills made things possible and fun for Christine and me. Feherty did like Peter. Feherty likes individuals who come up with their own ideas. So, Feherty should like himself, but Homo sapien is a hard species to understand.
I saw Feherty not long ago in Las Vegas. It happened in January, five days before the Super Bowl. The whole scene didn’t make sense, but Feherty’s life does. LIV Golf held an event in Las Vegas. Feherty is in charge of broadcasting for LIV, and my coworker Darren Riehl and I went to see Northern Ireland’s gift to the CW for a project we’re working on for GOLF.com called GOLF Originals. He was going to be our first Original, a video series we’re starting on this site and YouTube to tell the stories of golf’s first thinkers.
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When Feherty had his talk show on Golf Channel, Lee Trevino was one of his first 160 guests. Trevino is one of the most original people alive today. Fahy’s first subject could not have been better. They both live in Dallas, and Feherty went to see Buck in person. The famous Tex-Mex golfer said yes right away.
She said yes, but it took a little while. After about a week, I got this text from Dave: “Michael, nice to hear from you, my friend.” I am in Bumf-ck Kansas to hunt birds. I’ll text you early next week because my cell service isn’t great right now. That idea sounds good. I’ll talk to you soon. df
That’s a great story.
Feherty and I picked him up outside of his Las Vegas hotel, the Paris. He said at one point that it took him half a mile to walk from his room to the hotel’s front door. Few people share their thoughts like he does.
It was clear from the moment Feherty, who is 65 years old, got into our chatty four-door Nissan through Hertz that something was off about him. Darren is the show’s producer, director, editor, and adult. The guy riding shotgun wasn’t the funny Feherty we knew from TV. He was still and quiet as he thought.
He had just found out that his mother, Vi Feherty, who is 92 years old and lives in greater Belfast, had been put in hospice care. Her son was 5,000 miles away and eight hours behind, but David’s sister was with her. Being able to see people for who they really are, hear what’s important to them, and watch them up close is a gift and an honour. We were there.
We took a car to the Psychic Eye Book Shop, which is in a Las Vegas strip mall. Why? I’m not sure. Things to do. It’s become standard for him to sit in a Windsor chair in a clubhouse with plaid rugs and talk about how he played in the 1991 Ryder Cup. Yes, it was a bit and a joke to bring him to the Psychic Eye, but it was a good one. According to the first result on Google, it is a “occult-themed shop” that sells books, candles, incense, herbs, and more, and also offers psychic readings and lessons. Dave agreed.
We’re going to do this new video gig once a month, but I’m not good at planning (video needs planning), I’m terrible at typing (which is the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do), and I’m not good at interviews. (The other day, I told Rory McIlroy that he would be amazed by how well my one question worked, but he couldn’t have been.) Feherty asked early on, “So what are we doing here?”
“Trying to keep our jobs,” I told them.
Yes, but also this: We’re trying to show the real sides of some great and interesting people in the game, some of whom are well-known, some of whom are not, and some of whom are somewhere in the middle. Golf is golf because of its playing areas, how hard it is, and the strange tools used to play. But maybe even more so, golf is golf because of the people who are drawn to it.
For fifty years I’ve played golf and written about it for almost the same amount of time. I still feel like I haven’t even scratched the top of this game. It’s nice.
We left Paris, The Strip, and Allegiant Stadium behind and saw an I-15 sign that led us to Reno. Feherty asked if we were going to that place. My Siri played the R.E.M. song “All the Way to Reno.” Even though the song is about Nevada, it sounds so dark and surfy. Even though Feherty had a great singing voice as a child and R.E.M. loved recording in Ireland, none of that is important. What isn’t it?
We’ll let Michael Stipe drive our Nissan for a minute. Heh. All the way to Nevada. You’ve dusted off the doubters. And asked the rules of chance to be broken.
Even though I forgot to call the shop, the manager let us in with a camera when he heard Feherty’s accent. David is a pretty and strange guy.
I hope you enjoy the show.
