5 Reasons Why Arnold Palmer Will Always be King

1. With his “go for broke”, swashbuckling style, he almost singlehandedly is responsible for making golf on television watchable and successful.

2. His record of achievement includes the 1954 U.S. Amateur, four Masters, two British Opens, a U.S. Open, 62 PGA Tour victories and 10 Senior PGA Tour wins, including the PGA Seniors Championship and U.S. Senior Open.

3. He was instrumental in starting the Golf Channel, which has helped elevate the game globally.

4. He set the gold standard for class and how a modern day athlete should interact with fans and media.

5. He created the “Arnold Palmer”, that wonderful, refreshing libation of ice tea and lemonade mixed together.

Golf Channel's David Feherty: He's Just Not That Funny

Is it just me or is David Feherty-- who hosts an interview show on the Golf Channel-- not that funny and a bit of a boor?

In his bio on the Golf Channel website he’s described this way: “Thanks to a sharp wit and colorful personality, David has become golf’s most irrepressible personality and viewer favorite.”

Uh, he’s not really a favorite with this viewer.

While Feherty has an outstanding line-up of guests—everybody from golfers Sergio Garcia and Michelle Wie to instructor extraordinaire Butch Harmon and NBA basketball icon Bill Russell—his constant antics and quips typically fall flat making the show difficult to watch at times.

Feherty tries too hard to make people laugh with an endless series of sight gags, cheesy pratfalls and self-depricating skits. He’s like some desperate lounge act comedian in Las Vegas trying to entertain a bunch of bored, drunken conventioneers.

Apparently, Feherty has watched too many Conan O’Brien and David Letterman shows. His hopelessly unfunny skits such as dressing up like a matador and running from a bull in bullring in Spain while he was there interviewing Garcia and jumping into a fountain on the Stanford University campus during the Wie interview come off like some Letterman wannabe stunts.

I’m not a big fan of Feherty’s interview skills, either, because he attempts too many goofy quips and detracts from his guests.

That said, I’ll continue to watch because his guests are fascinating and Feherty does somehow manage to draw interesting stories and insights from them.

Please Feherty, you’re no Conan or David.

Stop trying to act like them and just do a good solid interview. 

It’ll provide easier viewing for all of us.