Ultimate Peer Respect . . ..
"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 thinks 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 the second best player in the world talking, and you wanna know how good Tiger is?
Ask Ernie Els."_

ok how many of you read that and in your mind and actually hear David's voice... I do.. I think I watch too much golf on TV.

I know I did and thought the same thing...

I could just imagine that, lmao.

People like to hate on TW, and that's fine, some people hate it when a ton of attention is showered on someone they don't like. Once in awhile I get tired of the vast amount of network time spent on TW, but then again, it's not like it is at the expense of another golfer who is also doing something fantastic which goes unnoticed. We got to see PM's majors, Cabrera's grind, Irish luck, so on.....so nothing is missed.

Anyway, I was watching the 4th round of Firestone with my 10 year old son and he was pretty into it, which is rare for someone who has the typical video game influenced attention span. He was amazed at the shots, but then it seemed routine to him so I had to put it in some perspective which put it back in perspective for me. My son is a little early to the TW party so it's tough for him to see the big picture. But he does see the walls of my office and home with all kinds of historical golf photos/paintings/achievements; he knows the names Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, and Tom Morris. So while TW is wrapping up his 6th title at Firestone and 14th of 25 chances against deep field in World Championships, I tell my son we may be witnessing the greatest golfer ever in the history of the sport. He got it. He still asked, "ever?". And I explained, it's hard to compare a Tiger Woods to a Bobby Jones, but with all due respect to the past, yes, TW will probably end up the best ever. He just has a few more major tournaments to win to silence any and all who want to make a case for someone else.

At 10 years old, my son has a lot of golf left in his life and maybe someone will come along to be the next TW in his lifetime, but if he does, it probably won't be until TW is done with his career. And even then, it will be a serious debate...even if someone comes along post-Tiger and wins 10+ majors, how can you ever foresee a golfer in the future being as dominant? 14 wins in World Championships by itself is a remarkable achievement. We are witnessing history, so rather than be so jaded/cynical, every once in awhile we should step back and quietly appreciate the moments.

Okay, enough of the sappiness....

No sappiness there. I feel exactly the same way. I feel so lucky to alive to witness the things that Tiger has done is his brilliant career. I can't get enough of it. I don't even want to imagine golf these days if Tiger had never came along. He is a joy to watch. He is a great guy. And he will be the greatest to ever play this game that we all love so much.

What's MOST remarkable about Tiger, if you watch him on the post-rounds interviews on the Golf Channel, is how focused and somewhat disatisfied he is with the situation, unless of course it's the interview on Sunday when he has already won the tournament, and there, he is all smile

The guy is incredible, and he's an inspiration and a role model to us hackers out there. Stop the whining and all the lame excuses - go out and try to be Tiger and execute. Leave it all out there on the course. If you happen to play good that one day, may be you can aspire to be like Tiger when he wins one of the majors. The satisfaction is yours alone

Cracking post mate, and very well put.

I agree with you absolutely. I mirrored your conversation with your son with my eldest dog after that 63 of Woods yesterday.

Even Ben seems to understand that we are witnessing something special, albeit he still idolises Rin Tin Tin..

Add me to that list.

But then again, I hear Feherty's voice all the time . . . everywhere.

It does come in handy when I can't decide what to order at a Mexican restuarant - he has pretty good taste and usually has good recommendations.


I'm pretty sure I need professional help.

Gotta love Feherty and his commentary.

Feherty is god

I think this post is about how Tiger is God...or at least his right hand man. I don't see how anyone else can argue that he isn't the best. When he isn't playing the winner is usually the one that chokes the least (with a few exceptions, KJ's win being one). It's like watching a different game (a perfect one) of golf when he plays.

love DF myself, i could listen to him all day...

Tiger is not human that is for sure... the display he put on the last 2 days, makes it apparent... and i'm not even a Tiger sack rider...

Fehrety is funnier than poo!

I love hearing him talk! I heard him on an ESPN radio interview and he had me crying at the end!

My favorite Feherty quote from today was (as best I can remember):

Booth Announcer: What are the concerns for this hole?

Feherty: Well, there's a tremendous Sycamore tree on the right side of the fairway, but I think Tiger only has to be concerned if it falls on him.

yeah i think that was on 18...

I would have fallen off my chair if I had heard that! ha ha ha, thats great!

Why can't your son be the one? Just a thought?

I like the new commercials with Feherty... very funny.

My favourtie Fehertism is on Furyk's swing: "Like someone strangling a python in a telephone box"

LOL....thanks.....I guess anything is possible and I certainly do not discourage him from any endeavor, but he better get going he's already 6 years behind TW. Unless you get a gift from God or some other divine intervention (see John Daly), you better start very early and be very dedicated every day of your life if you want a SMALL chance to be the next TW. My son plays when he feels like it, not when I feel like it. I am not exactly the next Marc O'Hair.... For example, we are off to spend the day hanging out in SF, not at a golf course, and the 4th round of the PGA can wait.

A few tournaments ago they had Feherty and Gary McCord do the commentating. I haven't had that much fun watching golf in a long time. It was almost a battle of who could be the funniest. The only problem I have with both is that being retired golfers (is it really retiring when it's not your decision?), anyway, they are so afraid of hitting bad shots that they completely panic when someone hits what looks to be a bad shot and they have a nervous breakdown before they see the results of the shot. Other than that they would be a great duo for golf commentary that I'd love to see again.

That's well said. Woods definitely inspires me to give 100% out on the course, even just a casual round. My dad taught me the game when I was a wee lad but it was Tiger who inspired me as an adult to take up the game in earnest.