David Feherty at his best

[Kingfisher]

An old one, but still a great story!

"People have accused me of being so far up Tiger’s arse that he can barely make a full swing, but I maintain that he is a special person. There’s no one else on the planet who can do what he does or even think of doing what he does. I’ve often thought, instead of showing Tiger’s reaction to a shot he’s hit, we really should show the reaction of those around him.”

But here is the next best thing. “I’m walking down the 18th fairway at Firestone Country Club with Ernie Els and Tiger, who has popped up a three-wood about 40 yards behind Ernie into some wet, nasty, horrible, six-inch rough,” Feherty says. “Tiger’s cursing and taking clumps out of Ohio with his three-wood. And, of course, we’re not showing this on TV because we want to be able to interview him later. Ernie and I walk past Tiger’s ball, and it is truly buried.”

“Ernie is tied with Tiger and he’s in the middle of the fairway. I’m standing with Ernie and my microphone is open. Ken Venturi [in the CBS booth] sends it to me and I say, ‘Tiger’s got 184 yards with two big red oaks overhanging the green. He’s got absolutely nothing. With a stick of dynamite and a sand wedge I might be able to move this ball 50 yards. Steve Williams [Woods' caddie] tells me [with a hand signal] that he’s using a pitching wedge.’

“Tiger takes his swing. Every muscle in his body is flung at the ball. It looks like he’s torn his nutsack. The divot went as far as I could hit the ball. I’ve got my microphone at my mouth thinking, what the hell was that! The ball sails over the trees, lands behind the hole and backs up to about six feet from the flag. I open my microphone and Ernie turns and says, ‘•••• me!”


“My producer comes on in my earpiece and says, ‘Was that Ernie?’ I say yes.

He says, ‘Fair enough.’

“I could have described that shot for 15 minutes and not done as good a job as Ernie did with two words. This is one of the best players in the world talking, and you wanna know how good Tiger is? Ask Ernie Els.”

[senorchipotle]

184 yards, out of rough, with a pitching wedge... yep, there's only one person i could think of that can hit that shot.

[Titleist]

my first post :)

I really love this story, and David Feherty. Figured i'd post the video so people could see the swing, really remarkable.

[Trav]

And we see how the legend grows - originally a 184 yard PW, now a 190 yard SW; soon, a 225 yard lob wedge .... and he spun it back to 6 feet ....

I think I remember seeing this remarkable shot live. He was lucky he didn't break anything (not just his club, but his body).

Exaggerated or not, I could listen to Feherty tell stories all day.

[Fat Slice]

And we see how the legend grows - originally a 184 yard PW, now a 190 yard SW; soon, a 225 yard lob wedge .... and he spun it back to 6 feet ....

"A cubic yard of Ohio goes 50 yards..." - I didn't see a huge flying divot in that video - did anyone?

[Smarf]

"A cubic yard of Ohio goes 50 yards..." - I didn't see a huge flying divot in that video - did anyone?

I'm sure it was exaggeration like everything he says, but that's why he's so damn funny. Someone else could tell that story and it just wouldn't be the same. He was one of my favorite thing in the Tiger Woods games.

On another note, I'd never seen that shot before and it was amazing. I probably couldn't hit a 3 wood that far and he hits a friggin' wedge out of the rough?! That's unbelievable. I wonder what the hand signals are for all the clubs?

[Trav]

I wonder what the hand signals are for all the clubs?

Stevie uses a simple system. He holds up his thumb for Driver, his index finger for a fairway wood, and for a 3-iron ...

[iacas]

I wonder what the hand signals are for all the clubs?

Same as with every caddie on tour.

# of fingers indicates the iron used. 3 = either 3 or 8, but most people can differentiate between those two. For a wedge it's a fist, typically. They don't really care about sand wedges or lob wedges - and those tend to look different anyway.

[$2 Nassau]

Same as with every caddie on tour.

Interesting, I always wondered how the commentators got that info.

Are caddies required to do this...well not required, but I guess expected to do this out of courtesy to those watching on TV?

[VOX]

By the way, many if not most of the caddies lie about what club their player is hitting. That is why you will often hear an announver say that "Jones is hitting an eight iron from 180 yards" and then see the sole of the club has a "6" on it when they do a close -up of his follow-through.

[Yukari]

Same as with every caddie on tour.

How does that not violate the rule forbidding giving information to other player? I am sure other players or caddies would look at what the others are doing.

[wedge player]

By the way, many if not most of the caddies lie about what club their player is hitting. That is why you will often hear an announver say that "Jones is hitting an eight iron from 180 yards" and then see the sole of the club has a "6" on it when they do a close -up of his follow-through.

ive never seen it happen.

[opie]

ive never seen it happen.

I saw it 2 or 3 during coverage of the british. I never knew where the commentator got the information though. I thought they were just making educated guesses and would miss every once in a while

[iacas]

How does that not violate the rule forbidding giving information to other player? I am sure other players or caddies would look at what the others are doing.

Plausible deniability. Happens all the time.

[wedge player]

I saw it 2 or 3 during coverage of the british. I never knew where the commentator got the information though. I thought they were just making educated guesses and would miss every once in a while

hmmm maybe they do guess sometimes.i was mistaken.

[Kingfisher]

And we see how the legend grows - originally a 184 yard PW, now a 190 yard SW; soon, a 225 yard lob wedge .... and he spun it back to 6 feet ....

Precisely, put the exaggeration aside and just enjoy Feherty's delivery!