Feherty More Than a Stupid Golf Trick

Humor and golf have long gone together. The sport was made for humor.

You need a sense of humor to play golf; otherwise it will drive you nuts.

So it’s fitting that CBS, which likes to interject humor into its golf telecasts, this year came up with a new “late-night” golf show that follows “The Late Show With David Letterman.” CBS paired Gary McCord and David Feherty, and the result has been some Letterman-type comedy.

Thursday night’s “Nissan Open Late Show” opened with a two-minute tease in which McCord and Feherty hijacked the Met-Life blimp, tied up the pilot, then were forced to jump out over Venice Beach because of a helium leak. Sounds crazy, huh? It was.

So what do these two have in store for tonight’s 12:37 a.m. show?

“We don’t like to give anything away, but I spend a lot of time in a coffin,” Feherty said before going on the air Thursday for USA’s early-round coverage of the Nissan Open at Riviera, which will be on CBS Saturday and Sunday.

Tonight’s late-night golf show will be CBS’ final of its type this season. The plan was to do let McCord and Feherty, two of the funniest men in golf, do their thing on Thursday and Friday nights during CBS’ West Coast swing, then go back to a more traditional late-night highlight show.

CBS’ next tournament is the Masters April 8-11, and the stuffed shirts at Augusta wouldn’t appreciate the humor. They’ve already banned McCord.

Feherty, who said he realizes the Masters deserves more serious treatment, is disappointed yet relieved tonight’s late show is the season finale. “It’s amazing how much time it takes to do 15 minutes of television,” he said.

Much is known about McCord and his irreverence. Saying such things as the greens at Augusta “are playing like they’ve been bikini waxed” is what got him in trouble at Augusta.

Less is known about about Feherty, although golf enthusiasts know the Irishman was a good player on the European tour and played for Europe in the 1991 Ryder Cup.

Feherty moved with his wife and two sons from Belfast to Dallas to join the PGA Tour in 1994, when he was 36. Although McCord was well aware of Feherty and his wit, CBS found out more about it when the network made him the subject in one of its “New Breed” features.

Lance Barrow, CBS’ coordinating producer of golf, knew CBS should hire Feherty after a brief chat at the 1996 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. “We rode in a car for two or three blocks from the CBS hotel to a PGA of America dinner and I was sold,” Barrow said.

CBS had auditioned him at the 1996 Doral Open in Miami, putting him a tower, but Barrow thought he was better suited to be a course reporter, where he can mix it up with the players.

In early 1997, after Feherty was hired by CBS, he retired from competitive golf and made his debut as a CBS regular at Pebble Beach.

Right away, he served notice he was going to be different. When he grabbed Tiger Woods after Woods gambled with a three-wood to the 18th green at Pebble, Feherty asked, “Were you concerned at all by that big blue thing to the left?” He was referring to the Pacific Ocean.

If a wayward shot goes into the gallery, Feherty might call it “a crowd abuser.” A shot into the trees may be “a squirrel killer.”

Humor has always helped Feherty, even in his personal life. His marriage broke up about a year after he came to the U.S., and he was devastated. But the humor was always there. “I’ve lost 40 pounds, 150 if you include my wife,” he said. Another Fehertyism: “Since my divorce, I’ve been running, lifting weights and drinking like a fish. I call it the divorce diet.”

On Thursday, Feherty said, “I have a new wife and a new daughter [8 months old] and life is good. I have the best job in the world. I used to have to play good to get on television. Now all I have to do is show up.”

SHORT WAVES

NBC has its first regular-season NBA tripleheader Sunday, after a single telecast on Saturday--Seattle at Utah at 12:30 p.m. Sunday’s tripleheader is capped at 3 by the Lakers at Seattle. . . . After two weeks, NBC is averaging a 5.5 for its NBA coverage. The 1997-98 regular-season average was a 4.6. . . . Among the beneficiaries of the return of the NBA is “Fox Sports News.” It jumped from a .4 rating in December to a .6 the first week of NBA games.

Chris Myers, who jumped from ESPN to “Fox Sports News,” developed a relationship with Dennis Rodman when he was the host of ESPN’s “Up Close,” and it has paid off. He broke the story about Rodman being close to signing with the Lakers last Thursday and has been on top of it since, regularly talking with Rodman. Meanwhile, “Fox Sports News” colleague Keith Olbermann’s big scoop that Marv Albert would be returning to NBC fizzled when Albert signed with Turner Sports this week. . . . Besides having a relationship with Myers, Rodman apparently is also a fan of “Up Close.” He’ll be on that show with new host Gary Miller today at 3 p.m.

Boxing beat: Saturday night is a big night. At 5 p.m., Channel 9 offers a Forum-promoted fight from the Spotlight 29 Casino in Indio, Juan Manuel Marquez facing Jose De Jesus Garcia. At 6:30 p.m. on HBO will be a replay of last Saturday’s thrilling Oscar De La Hoya-Ike Quartey fight, followed by a live telecast of the Felix Trinidad-Pernell Whitaker fight from Madison Square Garden. . . . As part of black history month, ESPN2 today at 5 p.m. offers an excellent one-hour special, “Shadowboxing: the Journey of the African American Fighter.” The show will be repeated Saturday at 5, 6 and 7 p.m. on ESPN Classic.

IN CLOSING

Joe McDonnell on Monday begins doing sports updates and commentaries at 15 and 45 past the hour from 3-7 p.m. weekdays on KFWB (980). He’ll also be reunited with old partner Doug Krikorian, at least for a week, on ESPN Radio. McDonnell and Krikorian will work the overnight shift (11 p.m.-3 a.m.), filling in for the vacationing Todd Wright.

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What Los Angeles Is Watching

A sampling of L.A. Nielsen ratings for Feb. 13-14, including sports on cable networks:

SATURDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Figure skating: U.S. Championships (women) 7 7.5 13 Auto racing: Daytona twin 125s 2 3.7 13 Figure skating: U.S. Championships (men) 7 3.6 9 College basketball: UCLA at California 7 2.5 8 Golf: Buick Invitational 2 2.3 7 Auto racing: NAPA Auto Parts 300 2 2.3 7 Skiing: World Alpine Championships 4 0.3 3

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Cable Network Rating Share Hockey: Dallas at Kings FSW 0.9 2 College basketball: Massachusetts at Rhode Island ESPN 0.8 2 Track and field: L.A. Invitational ESPN 0.7 1 College basketball: USC at Stanford FSW 0.4 1 College basketball: Iowa State at Nebraska ESPN 0.4 1 Golf: Senior American Express Invitational ESPN 0.4 1 Horse racing: Santa Anita Live FSW2 0.3 1 Auto racing: Winston Cup Happy Hour ESPN2 0.3 1 College basketball: Michigan State at Minnesota ESPN 0.2 0 Pro basketball: Clippers at Phoenix FSW2 0.2 0 Hockey: Chicago at Toronto ESPN2 0.2 0

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SUNDAY

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Over-the-air Channel Rating Share Pro basketball: Indiana at Lakers 4 9.9 23 Auto racing: Daytona 500 2 4.6 14 Golf: Buick Invitational 2 4.3 11 College basketball: Georgia Tech at Louisville 7 1.6 5 Speedskating: World All-Around Championships 7 2.3 7 Soccer: Mexican League, Parma vs. UNAM 34 1.4 4 Hockey: Philadelphia at Colorado 11 0.7 2

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Cable Network Rating Share Hockey: Mighty Ducks at Phoenix ESPN 1.1 2 Figure skating: Champions on Ice TBS 0.7 1 Soccer: English League, FA playoffs FSW 0.4 1 Soccer: Women’s World Cup draw ESPN2 0.4 1 Golf: Senior American Express Invitational ESPN 0.2 0 Tennis: ATP Sybase Open final FSW 0.2 0 College basketball: Women, Virginia-N. Carolina ESPN2 0.1 0

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WEEKDAY RATINGS: Monday--ESPY Awards Show, ESPN, 1.3/2.

Note: Each rating point represents 50,092 L.A. households. Cable ratings reflect the entire market, even though cable is in only 63% of L.A. households.