Peter Jacobsen isn’t prone to hyperbole. So when he says he doesn’t think he’s ever met anybody who love golf more than Tommy Roy, that is quite the statement. “He loves golf and loves the complexities of the game as as much as a tour pro does,” …
Peter Jacobsen isn’t prone to hyperbole. So when he says he doesn’t think he’s ever met anybody who love golf more than Tommy Roy, that is quite the statement.
“He loves golf and loves the complexities of the game as as much as a tour pro does,” Jacobsen said.
Roy, a 29-time Emmy Award winner, will be at the helm of NBC and Golf Channel’s coverage of the 121st U.S. Open. Or as Jacobsen put it, “He’s the Tom Brady in the truck directing traffic. When he speaks, everybody listens.”
Roy has done it all during an illustrious 40-year career at NBC, including the 2008 Olympics when Michael Phelps claimed eight gold medals. It was a one-week stint as a gopher at the 1978 Tucson Open that gave life to his interest in television.
One of his pet peeves as lead producer is to show all 156 players in the field during the first two rounds of the biggest events, even going so far as to have a staffer checking off names.
“Last probably half dozen years we’ve nailed every one of them,” he said. “At the 2019 British Open, there was one player that we missed from the morning wave. And Molly Solomon, who’s the executive producer of both channels (NBC and Golf Channel), went over to the world feed and they found a shot of this guy and they sent it over to us and we were able to get that on and say, yup, we got all 156 on.”
Roy’s soda-guzzling intense persona is legendary. Jacobsen said his Whoop stats would be through the roof. “He gets so jacked up. And so into it, that I think when he comes down, he probably has to go home and fall asleep,” Jacobsen said.
Ahead of a busy week that includes nearly 100 hours of live tournament and studio coverage from Torrey Pines will be available across NBC, Golf Channel, and Peacock, Roy made time to speak exclusively to Golfweek in this wide-ranging Q&A.
In advance of the popular celebrity golf event, Barkley talks about his game, his new swing coach, Phil Mickelson and more.
Charles Barkley has perhaps the most critiqued—and criticized and laughed at—swing in golf, but he does love the game and that’s all good by us. And he’s working hard to get better.
With the NBA playoffs heating up, Barkley and his co-hosts are busy on the set of the hit TV show Inside the NBA on TNT.
Next month, he’ll make yet another appearance in the American Century Championship, the premiere celebrity golf tournament that’s held annually at the scenic Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Owned and broadcast by NBC Sports, this will be the 32nd year of the made-for-TV event which has a purse of $600,000 but also raises funds for local and national charities. The tournament is a 54-hole modified Stableford format. It’s not uncommon for Barkley to finish last in the 80-golfer field.
In advance of the event, Barkley talks about his game, his new swing coach, Phil Mickelson and the NBA playoffs.
This is the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open television and streaming schedule with coverage on NBC, Golf Channel and the Peacock app.
This is the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open television and streaming schedule with coverage on NBC, Golf Channel and the Peacock app.
The 76th Women’s Open will be this week at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California, for the first time. The club has hosted the U.S. Open five times. The Women’s Open was last in California in 2016 when Brittany Lang won at CordeValle.
The tournament will be just 24 weeks after the 2020 edition, which was moved to December for the first time ever. A Lim Kim is the defending champion.
The U.S. Golf Association recognizes the Olympic Club as one of the first 100 golf clubs established in the United States.
Note: All times listed are ET.
Thursday, June 3
Streaming
Peacock and uswomensopen.org: 5 to 7 p.m.
Featured groups
9th tee, 11:28 a.m. ET
Jessica Korda, Nelly Korda, So Yeon Ryu
1st tee, 5:13 p.m. ET
Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson, Patty Tavatanakit
Peacock and uswomensopen.org: 5 to 7 p.m.
Featured groups
9th tee, 11:28 a.m. ET
Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson, Patty Tavatanakit
1st tee, 5:13 p.m. ET
Jessica Korda, Nelly Korda, So Yeon Ryu
Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau will take part in the fourth edition of the made-for-TV event, this one in picturesque Montana.
Even though he’s now eligible for an AARP card, there’s not much slowing down Phil Mickelson nor keeping him from reaching new heights.
Case in point, Wednesday’s announcement that the 50-year-old six-time major champion will again be part of “The Match,” the fourth edition of the made-for-TV event — this one coming at the spectacular Moonlight Basin in Big Sky, Montana, which sits at an elevation of roughly 7,500 feet.
Reigning U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau will also be added to the equation as will Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Mickelson will again play with Tom Brady, with whom he partnered in The Match II against Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning last May. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, July 6, at 5 p.m. ET.
According to a release from Turner Sports, in addition to live televised coverage on TNT, interactive social and digital content will be available on Bleacher Report and House of Highlights leading up to and during the event. Live event coverage airing on TNT will once again feature open mics throughout the entire competition, including the capability to communicate directly with other golfers and the broadcast commentators.
Also, the event will include donations made to Feeding America, and additional charitable beneficiaries.
The course is often referred to as one of the most picturesque in the country, and due to the elevation, the 8,000-yard track isn’t unmanageable. The centerpiece is the 777-yard 17th hole, one that drops considerably from tee to green.
CBS will utilize the latest in video technology at the 2021 PGA Championship.
CBS Sports is embarking on its 38th year—and 31st in a row—of televising the PGA Championship.
The event is the second men’s major of the 2021 calendar year.
“We like having the first two major championships on CBS,” Sean McManus, Chairman of CBS Sports, said in a Zoom call with reporters. His network has long carried the Masters, which is in April. The PGA’s move to May gives the network two in a row.
Needless to say, television broadcast technology has changed as much as golf equipment over the years.
At its disposal at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina, CBS has a stockpile of gadgets: live drones, fly cams, 4D replays, the Atlas cam, Toptracer, SwingVision and anemometers, measuring wind speed and direction, paired with on-screen graphics.
A drone flies over the course as Brendan Steele walks during the first round of the 2021 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course on May 20, 2021 in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Perhaps the most intriguing tech for Kiawah are the two robotic cameras that have been installed inside the bunkers on the 17th hole.
“There is water right, bailout is left. The bunkers have a massive lip, on them both of them,” said CBS lead golf producer Sellers Shy the week before the championship. “We plan on planting them [the cameras] right in that lip. We’re hoping we’ll be able to cover the entire space of each one of them.”
How the hole will be played will obviously change over the four days, depending on the players, the tees, the pin placement and the wind.
It’s still only Friday but could the stars be aligning for a Phil Mickelson-Arizona State weekend?
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It’s still only Friday but could the stars be aligning for a Phil Mickelson-Arizona State weekend?
Let’s set the stage.
ASU is hosting the NCAA Championships this week in Scottsdale. Grayhawk Golf Club is home to 24 women’s teams this week, then 30 men’s teams next week. ASU is one of five schools to have a men’s and women’s team represented here.
It’s worth noting that ASU is also the only team ever to claim both NCAA titles in the same year. The Sun Devils did that in 1990.
Grayhawk, hosting the first of three straight NCAAs, is also home to Phil’s Grill, a restaurant in the clubhouse dedicated to Mickelson and his many golf accomplishments.
Framed art of Phil Mickelson winning the Masters at Phil’s Grill at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo by Golfweek.
There is framed art of Lefty sporting the green jacket after winning the Masters. There are signed flags, magazine covers and commemorative plaques.
A signed flag from The Match at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo by Golfweek
That PGA is among the five majors and 44 wins Mickelson has piled up over the years. On the flip side, he hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since August, a span of 16 starts, his last top-10 at a major was nearly five years ago at the 2016 British Open, and he finished 69th at the Wells Fargo Championship after holding the first-round lead two weeks ago.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPJPP4MtBOG/
He opened this year’s PGA with a 70, then backed that up with a 69 on Friday to take the clubhouse lead and fans were buzzing about Lefty making a weekend charge.
With ASU’s golf teams looking for another double-dip, attempting to do so at Grayhawk of all places, and with Mickelson making headlines in a major, it’s shaping up to potentially be a heck of a weekend for the Sun Devils.
It’s still only Friday but could the stars be aligning for a Phil Mickelson-Arizona State weekend?
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It’s still only Friday but could the stars be aligning for a Phil Mickelson-Arizona State weekend?
Let’s set the stage.
ASU is hosting the NCAA Championships this week in Scottsdale. Grayhawk Golf Club is home to 24 women’s teams this week, then 30 men’s teams next week. ASU is one of five schools to have a men’s and women’s team represented here.
It’s worth noting that ASU is also the only team ever to claim both NCAA titles in the same year. The Sun Devils did that in 1990.
Grayhawk, hosting the first of three straight NCAAs, is also home to Phil’s Grill, a restaurant in the clubhouse dedicated to Mickelson and his many golf accomplishments.
Framed art of Phil Mickelson winning the Masters at Phil’s Grill at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo by Golfweek.
There is framed art of Lefty sporting the green jacket after winning the Masters. There are signed flags, magazine covers and commemorative plaques.
A signed flag from The Match at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo by Golfweek
That PGA is among the five majors and 44 wins Mickelson has piled up over the years. On the flip side, he hasn’t recorded a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since August, a span of 16 starts, his last top-10 at a major was nearly five years ago at the 2016 British Open, and he finished 69th at the Wells Fargo Championship after holding the first-round lead two weeks ago.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPJPP4MtBOG/
He opened this year’s PGA with a 70, then backed that up with a 69 on Friday to take the clubhouse lead and fans were buzzing about Lefty making a weekend charge.
With ASU’s golf teams looking for another double-dip, attempting to do so at Grayhawk of all places, and with Mickelson making headlines in a major, it’s shaping up to potentially be a heck of a weekend for the Sun Devils.
Chamblee dishes on the distance debate and being on the other end of criticism, and why he’s not afraid to take the contrarian view.
Whether you love him or hate him, Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee makes good TV with his sharp opinions and willingness to criticize the best players in golf. In Part I of our latest Q&A, Chamblee discussed the struggles of Rickie Fowler and the winless drought of Tony Finau and we did a deep dive into the U.S. Ryder Cup and future options for the captaincy. You can read it here.
In Part II, Chamblee explains how he’d change course setups, dishes on the distance debate and being on the other end of criticism, and why he’s not afraid to take the contrarian view.
Golfweek: If you were Commissioner of the PGA Tour for the day, what would you change?
Brandel Chamblee: The first thing I’d do is get rid of the top-50 exemption and then I’d get rid of the top-25 exemption. There’s no place for safety nets in sports. Those take up spots. However many it is, it’s too many. It should be a merit-based sport.
Every time someone new pops up on our radar, like Will Zalatoris, everyone says it is great to see a new young player come along that seems to be fearless and, yes, I agree. But every time that happens, I think someone just lost their job. If Will Zalatoris comes along and you can’t compete with him, you should lose your job. There should be no guarantees. Why does golf provide safety nets? No other sport does. You can go down to the minor leagues like the rest of the world does and fight your way back.
Will Zalatoris holds the trophy after winning the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes on Saturday, July 4, 2020. (Kevin Lytle/The Coloradoan)
GWK: That’s your thing? You wouldn’t change course setup or pick different courses?
BC: That would be the day after I take away those exemptions. Actually, it’d be the same day because it would take me two minutes to say, I’m sorry, those exemptions are over. That would be more difficult to do because you’d have to go to a board and that board would have to present these and if I had autonomy, and I don’t think the commissioner position works that way, but I might take a detour down to the course setup guys and say, the fairways have to be wider, the rough has to be thicker, but only in a certain number of events.
There are events where long tee balls and recovery shots from the rough is exciting. I get it. If I were running a Tour event 20 years ago, I would’ve cut the rough too. I would want Tiger and Phil to be in contention on Sunday and the best way to ensure that is to cut the rough because they drove it all over the place. I understand why they did it. But to identify the best player and for the best future of the game is to restore the value of finding fairways.
To do that you can’t do what the USGA did at the U.S. Open. You can’t do that with 1980s-width fairways and 1980s-height rough. That’s stuck in thinking from 40 years ago. You have to extrapolate to dispersion cones with 310 yard drives, which means the fairways need to be 5-6-7-8 yards wider but the rough has to also be 2-3-4 inches taller. You can’t have the same width and height rough as you did in 1984 because guys didn’t swing as hard and didn’t come in as steep. The rough has to have a penalty to have a penalty of .5 as opposed to .2 or .3. You have to get the rough up to 4-5 inches and it needs to be thick and if it is 5-6 inches all the better.
But the fairways need to be wide enough to where the straightest drivers of the ball can find them so they can offset their disadvantage. That seems pretty straightforward to me. What else are you going to do?
GWK: Do you believe everything you say on air?
BC: (Laughs) Yeah. There are times when I change my mind, when I will think about it or come across information, but I’ve sat in meetings before where someone has said if someone is going to say this can we get someone to speak to the other side of it, and on issues where I’m sort of ambivalent I’ll say, yeah, I’ll take the other side. Happy to do it.
More often than not it, it doesn’t work out that way. You want to speak to an issue 360 degrees. By the time I say something on the air, I’ve thought about it, I’ve researched it and thought of counters to it, but yeah, I’ve certainly changed my opinion. I’ve done it on the distance debate. I think you should constantly take your opinions out, kick ’em around, beat ’em with a broom, and see if they stand up to scrutiny. I’ve tried to do that as often as I can. I’ve done that with teaching, the golf swing, the putting stroke. I’ve changed my view on a lot of things where I’ve come across information that proved me to be wrong, informed me in a better way. Yeah, I’ve said things on the air that I wouldn’t say now, that I disagree with now, that I wish I’d never said, but for the most part I try to be very, very careful about the words I use and the opinions I have.
GWK: What does your mailbox of feedback look like from viewers? What do you learn from it and what’s the general pros and cons?
BC: We live in a very critical world now. I’m not oblivious to criticism. I’ve always said you should be able to be criticized and complimented and never feel any way about either of them. When criticism comes from the right people and the right sources, when it’s valid or there is a grain of truth to it and you can learn from it and I take it to heart. I certainly pay attention to critics whose opinions I value and don’t have an ax to grind with my position on things. It’s amazing, I’ve gotten along with so many people in this game forever but the fact that I differ with them on the distance report, it’s almost like within the golf world you’re voting for Trump or Biden.
People feel that passionately about the distance issue with the USGA and R&A. I’m not sure I feel as adamantly against the rollback as people think I do. I just think that it seems that all the people that are in the architecture industry are for a rollback and I think the more difficult argument is why the game is better left alone.
I enjoy the more difficult argument. I enjoy trying to get to the bottom and to the truth of things but I tend to think that the most popular view doesn’t have a great record on a lot of things. It’s quite often wrong. So, I think, how is it wrong? I go and do research to discover if it is right or wrong, and try to figure a way to counter. That’s fun. I’ve always said we make progress by disputation and argument. That’s why the First Amendment is so important and the cancel culture is so bad. When you make arguments, they are never perfectly formed. Ever. They are imperfectly formed. You state an opinion and inevitably someone will know something that you don’t or think about it in a way that you don’t and will point out the errors in your opinion and so you reconvene and you try to make a better opinion, a more informed opinion and you stumble towards your better self and your better ideas.
The Cancel Culture is so ready to hold people accountable for arguments that are not perfectly formed and not perfectly stated. Listen, there’s no place in the world for racism and bigotry but in a world where people are preaching tolerance they should have some tolerance for people who make a mistake here or there for their phrasing of an argument. That’s why the First Amendment is so important. We should all take a deep breath.
There’s the idea of the straw man. The opposite should be the case. You should make a steel man out of your opponents’ arguments and ideas. You should try to formulate the most perfect idea of what someone is saying in the most perfectly stated verbiage to hold up their idea in its best essence and say I get what you’re trying to say and how is it assailable, how is it wrong? That’s how you get better at everything.
GWK: If you could require every player on Tour to read one book, what would it be?
BC: I think the most important book I’ve read in informing me is Guns, Germs and Steel written by Jared Diamond. If school kids were made to read it in school, ignorance, bigotry and prejudice would be gone. I can hardly think of a more important book to read. The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, every American should read that book. Those books right there just inform you about why man is the way he is, keep you on guard for the malevolence in men and gives you a great philosophical foundation to go learn, study or think about or talk about whatever you want to talk about.
I’ve never come across anyone smarter than Friedrich Nietzsche. If I can get on a soap box for a minute, I think this generation feels entitled to be happy. I think that’s a very dangerous thought. Friedrich Nietzsche has a great line that he who has a why to live can bear almost any how. If you have meaning in your life then you can deal with adversity and stumble towards your better self. It’s a marvelous philosophical precept. No one deserves to be happy. If you’re lucky, you can find something that gives meaning to your life, which will then allow you to be happy. It’s not happiness. It’s meaning, which allows you to deal with adversity. Adversity is everywhere. You deal with it every day in large and small capacities. Those are books that mean a lot to me.
Brandel Chamblee dishes on why Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau aren’t winning and fixing Team USA’s Ryder Cup captaincy flaws.
In an era of vanilla analysts towing the company line, Brandel Chamblee is the Neapolitan ice cream, with an opinion and yellow legal pad full of research to defend his arguments.
On the morning of the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, Chamblee sat down with Golfweek to discuss the game he loves and some of the intriguing players who have been struggling to find the winner’s circle (we previously published his thoughts on Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Jason Day). Chamblee also launched his Ryder Cup campaign for Larry Nelson in 2023.
Check back for Part II on Tuesday, Feb. 16, where Chamblee discusses such topics including if he believes everything he says. Spoiler alert: his response begins with a chuckle.
Golfweek: What’s holding back Tony Finau from winning?
Brandel Chamblee: I get your question. I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a player quite like Tony Finau. How can a player be world class if he doesn’t have victories on his resume? But everything on his resume is world class. It makes no sense. To see a guy play that well and that often and not come away with victories, you keep thinking it’s going to be like David Duval and at some point the windfall is going to happen.
Unlike David Duval, Tony’s not a great putter and unlike Duval he doesn’t drive it really straight. He’s long and a bit crooked. If you think about the greatest closers of all time, they all have great transitions to their golf swing bridging the backswing to the downswing. Tony’s quick. Pressure makes you quick, especially if you’re inclined to be quick anyway. Tom Watson famously said he never got over trouble on Sundays until he learned to slow things down. Finau has a short, quick golf swing. The most successful short, quick swing I can think of is Doug Sanders, who won a lot but never a major. It didn’t endure into his 50s. Finau is still young. It wouldn’t surprise me if he won three times this year. It wouldn’t surprise me if he won 5-6 times in his career. Again, he needs to find some way to be a better putter and a better player on Sunday. You look at his scoring average on Sundays and he’s a different guy.
GWK:Has Rickie Fowler missed his window to win a major?
BC: I don’t think so. He’s got a good coach (John Tillery) but I disagree with the philosophy that he’s coaching, which is more flex in his right knee. Kevin Kisner (another Tillery pupil) doesn’t hit the ball far, nor does Rickie. I cannot believe Rickie left Butch. Get on a plane and go to Vegas. He had a wonderful relationship with Butch. It’s a risk working with anybody. It could work out or it might not.
GWK:DJ or Rory in full flight…who ya got and why?
BC: If they both play their best golf, I think Rory beats him. Rory won majors by 8. DJ at this point in his career is winning tournaments by wide margins. I think it is very close. I’d love to see Rory play his best golf.
How many times have they gone head to head? WGC Mexico, DJ got the better of him. I remember seeing Rory shortly after that and he said when you run into someone playing that type of golf and you’re not playing as well you just can’t beat him. Think about Rory at the 2011 U.S. Open or 2012 PGA, that guy versus Dustin Johnson right now, I’d like to see that, I think Rory would win, personally, but it would be a hell of a battle.
GWK: Who will be the next player to reach World No. 1?
BC: Let me look at the World Rankings. I think Dustin has a pretty darn good hold on No.1 right now. The next will probably be Rory. He’d have to go on a tear this year, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he did. I think Jon Rahm has the potential to be dominant at No. 1 and drop anchor there. You can just see it in his eyes. He doesn’t have kids yet. He’s about to but they’re not at that age where he’s coaching them in soccer and they’re looking at him with those eyes like where are you going daddy? That breaks your heart. I think the more intriguing question is who’s going to be No. 1 that has never been No. 1 before. Where is that guy?
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GWK: Do you think Team USA has figured anything out about its captaincy and grooming future leaders or just grasping at straws?
BC: I think they are still grasping at straws. I can appreciate that they tried to empower the players more, to give them more ownership of it. That was a well thought out transition to give the players more of a voice in but it doesn’t mean they should have autonomy to do whatever they want to do. For example, picking six players misses the point. It’s meant to be the best 12 players according to our system, not according to some click. It’s very clubby, very clickish and I don’t think it’s a good look for the team, for the PGA Tour. It should be based on merit not popularity, and the captaincy should be an obvious honor to some longtime player irrespective of their popularity. How was David Toms missed? How has David Duval been overlooked?
GWK: What do you make of Davis Love III being named 2021 Presidents Cup captain?
BC: Everyone loves Davis Love. There’s nothing not to love about Davis Love. But you shouldn’t be able to drop anchor in the position. There have been a lot of oversights in that position, Gene Sarazen, Larry Nelson. The nature of the Ryder Cup is the Europeans have better team chemistry. It’s as simple as that. I don’t know why Americans recoil at that idea. You show me the corresponding video of the American golfers putting together the angry golf video. It’s not a knock at the Americans as it is applauding the Europeans. It’s so good that they dominate the USA. On paper, the U.S. is better and so it infuriates the U.S. team and makes the Ryder Cup so interesting to watch.
GWK: Who would you like to see as Team USA’s captain someday?
BC: David Duval.
I’ve said this before, Larry Nelson should be the captain. If people want to say that he’s not relevant anymore, if you don’t know who he is, you should know who he is. The idea of respecting your elders is important and they should respect that he served his country, and respect the dignity that he brought to the professional game and his Ryder Cup record and how good he was at it and how happy he was to not only have fought for his country but then played for his country with distinction. That is worth correcting a mistake. He is still alive. Do you believe in karma? If you do it’s not hard to get to this is what the USA team deserves having so egregiously overlooked such a distinguished player and great man.
I’ve told the story before but the first day I ever spent on a golf course watching a PGA Tour event was the Byron Nelson in 1966 or ’67, somewhere in there, and I was sitting behind the first green at Preston Trail and this guy putted out and walked off and sat down next to me in the stands. He asked me if I was enjoying the golf. I told him I just started to play golf and that my dad had dropped me off and I was spending the whole day out here. He asked me if I wanted to play golf when I grew up and I said I want to play the Tour when I grew up. He said, maybe someday I’ll see you out here. That player was Larry Nelson.
Ten or 12 years later, whatever it was, I got paired with him at the Players Championship. He probably did that to countless kids, but that’s who he is. He didn’t do it gratuitously, he did it sincerely. He won three majors for crying out loud and was 9-0 in his first nine matches. Making him Ryder Cup captain would be the best feel-good, best thing that the Ryder Cup could ever do. From a karma standpoint it would be incredible and would properly tell his story and might be just the thing to turn around…you could say that the Hal Sutton-Jackie Burke old-school thing didn’t work. We too often give pass-fail grades to ideas based upon the results of competition when it shouldn’t play out like that. What’s the right thing to do? Who’s the most deserving captain? Who’s the most deserving player to give tribute to?
If you can find another player on the planet more deserving of the tribute of captaincy of the Ryder Cup than Larry Nelson, point him out. Where is he? He doesn’t exist. If he were 85 years old, he’d still deserve it and we deserve to know who he is and it rights a wrong. Beyond that, David Duval and beyond that David Toms.
It’s become so predictable. Phil Mickelson is going to get it, Tiger Woods whenever he wants it. Zach Johnson will get it. But who else? Who’s the Paul McGinley of the U.S.? He’s such a unique fellow in that he was good enough to qualify for teams but he was so sharp and so well respected. I’d be looking for the Paul McGinley on the U.S. side. This is why it can’t just be an autonomous, player run event, There needs to be someone in the room to say we need to find a Paul McGinley type player.
GWK: Justin Leonard would be in that same category.
BC: There it is. That’s your Paul McGinley.
GWK: Why are he and Duval no longer thought of for the role? Is it because they are doing TV?
BC: Justin is still part of the club. I don’t know why he wouldn’t be being groomed. He made the putt that everyone remembers in 1999. He’s kind of a Paul McGinley. He’s a very thoughtful, quiet guy. A lot of the best coaches were not necessarily the best players but they had to think the hardest about it to get the most out of their talent. That’s who Paul McGinley was. It doesn’t really describe Justin because he was an extraordinary golfer. Besides Larry Nelson, besides David Duval and Justin Leonard, I’d be looking for the Paul McGinley to lead the U.S. team.
He’s been one of the most candid and influential golf broadcasters for years, but David Feherty’s show on Golf Channel has not been renewed.
He’s been one of the most candid, hilarious and influential golf broadcasters for years, but David Feherty’s popular show on Golf Channel has not been renewed, according to a report from Golf Digest.
The Emmy-nominated series started in 2011 with an interview of Lee Trevino. At the time, it was the most-watched original series premiere in Golf Channel history. But a combination of the pandemic and the Golf Channel’s move to the NBC Sports studios outside New York City conspired against any future plans for the show.
All seasons of the “Feherty” are still available on Peacock, which the NBC streaming service.
“Maybe it was just time,” Feherty said. “I think a lot of people are going to be surprised that it got canceled. It always sort of amazed me the (number of) people that watched. Ten years is a whole lot more than I thought I would do. I loved doing it.”
At his best, Feherty has a unique gift for free-association thinking that manifests itself in creative word play. He can describe a fairly mundane act – say, a 9-iron approach from 140 yards – with a witty riff that distinguishes him from his contemporaries. I think so highly of this skill that two years ago, in a thoroughly unscientific assessment, I went so far as to rank Feherty No. 2 on a list of the top 10 television golf analysts. That proved one of two things: Either Feherty is really good at his main job, or I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. It’s quite possible that the truth lies somewhat closer to the latter.
The show found its stride and continued on for 10 seasons and a total of 150 episodes. Feherty isn’t going anywhere — his contract is for three more years handling tournament coverage on NBC and the Golf Channel – but the show simply had run its course.
The final episode of “Feherty” ran in September, when Feherty interviewed Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open champ.
