Golf commentator can laugh, in bad times and good

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — David Feherty sounded tired, even though his jokes were not. That is how it goes when the comedian in you shares space with a manic personality prone to depression.

Feherty is a walking contradiction. Except he seldom walks. The NBC and Golf Channel announcer/entertainer bounds. And when not bounding, he bends; contorting his 58-year-old body and twisting his face into goofy expressions of physical comedy. And when not bending, he bounces, usually off the walls.

That is one side. The other?

Feherty struggles with bipolar 1 disorder, which through the years has led to addictions and demons that are no laughing matter. But he makes fun of them all the same in his traveling stand-up show that hits the Southern Theatre on June 3, the Saturday of the Memorial Tournament. (Only a few hundred tickets remain.)

“There’s a razor’s edge between comedy and tragedy,” Feherty said Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, where he is working the Players Championship. “The trick is to find the sad stuff funny. Make that blade a little thicker. What you don’t want to do is end up in the middle, you know, one slip and have one leg on either side. That’s a really uncomfortable feeling.”

Equally uncomfortable is the lead-up to his twohour show, which tethers itself to golf — is Jack or Tiger the best ever? — but also explores his personal struggles and triumphs.

“It’s a (bleep) of a feeling waiting,” he said. “I’m like a box of frogs before I get on stage, but as long as I get a feeling of connection with an audience, then I’m fine.”

And fine is good enough, considering how miserable Feherty was a decade ago, before he sobered up. He plans to address his sins and issues during the Columbus show, including how Nicklaus, in league with Tom Watson, helped him recalibrate his life.

“Jack was one of the ones who helped me get sober, so I’ll tell that story,” Feherty said, adding that he will relay some of the story by manipulating his Irish accent into a squeaky Nicklaus voice.

Feherty won five times during a career spent mostly playing in Europe. He retired from competitive golf in 1997 and quickly became something of a celebrity as a joke-cracking on-course reporter for CBS. He began hosting his own talk show in 2011, interviewing everyone from Nicklaus to Bob Knight to Donald Trump, then made the jump to NBC in 2015. His stand-up show, which is not affiliated with his TV duties, began in 2014.

I asked if he plans to poke fun at Trump, given how the president is comedy gold for other stand-up comics.

“There’s not much political in (the show),” he said. “It’s a very difficult thing to broach, because people tend to think of me as a sports broadcaster, which is not what I need for this show.”

At heart, Feherty is a storyteller, taking audiences on journeys that he hopes are touching and hilarious. Instead of killing people on stage, he prefers to prolong their lives.

“I use dead people’s stories. Arnold Palmer and Ken Venturi, for example. If I don’t tell these stories, they’re going to die as well,” he said.

But enough with the tenderness. Feherty thrives on political incorrectness, and his stand-up routine shows it.

“I’m more comfortable with the humorous side of the show, because it’s a life-support mechanism for me,” he said. “With depression, I try to be a carrier, rather than a sufferer. I try to depress other people, which sort of cheers me up.”

He was joking. I think.

A proposal from the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association is being considered to extend the season by two weeks, pushing the state finals to mid-June.

“The argument centers on pitch count issues and the opportunity to play in better weather,” Ross said. “They went to get in their full allotment of games and have a better chance of getting their Nos. 1 and 2 pitchers on the field for the most important games.”

He added that an extension of the softball season might follow. If passed, the move likely would not go into effect until 2019.