he interviewed Kenny Venturi.   one of the earlier

announcers when Tiger first turned pro.

a really great guy and lots of fun to listen to.

Ken was a great golfer and an amateur while in

high school, but he developed a problem with his

hands and had to quit playing golf.

apparently he knew lots of stars like Bing Crosby,

Frank Sinatra, etc.

it was a fun interview.

:-)

TIGER WOODS IS THE BEST!

my dad hated ken venturi, much like people hate johnny miller today, because he felt venturi came across as a know-it-all. to me, venturi comes across as a proud man, mainly because of several of the things he had to overcome. i don't have as strong of an opinion that my dad has.

David Feherty ? @Fehertwit

Venturi and Nantz could announce Armageddon and make it sound like a Frank Sinatra/Tony Bennett duet. They were smooth.

( I don't much care for Nantz but Venturi could talk a good game. True not all folks liked him. )

here's a nice excerpt about venturi in a past issue of golf digest...

When Byron Nelson was unable to be the honorary starter at the 1983 Masters, he asked me to fill in for him. Of course I agreed. After Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead and I teed off, we decided to play the front nine. Much to my surprise, I made four birdies and one bogey and made the turn at 33. Boy, did I hit it good. My imagination started flying. "Gene, I want us to keep playing," I said. "I can lead this tournament." Sarazen saw the desire in my eyes, and we started walking toward No. 10. Suddenly, Gene stopped. "On second thought, to ---- with it," he said. "You can't lead anything, Venturi. Let's get some lunch." I just followed Gene into the clubhouse, like a puppy.

:-))

twitb (Tiger Woods is the Bomb!)   love it!!  :-)

but yeah.  i see what you are saying.  your

dad probably knew him as an announcer

way before i even heard of him.   i only got

to see who he was, as Tiger turned pro.

i think Sr. said Venturi and Nantz worked

together and yes. they were smooth as

Feherty stated in his tweet.   lol !!

but i appreciated his knowledge of golf. 

i mean.   the man knows his golf.  and i

appreciated his view of Tiger.   his early

comments about Tiger could be a little edgy,

(as was the case for many of the commentators, etc. )

but he was also the one who said of Tiger,

and of what Tiger could accomplish,

"that all things were possible." 

so.   i guess by the time i started

seeing him, he had matured quite a bit.   :-)

i was also surprised to learn that he kinda

of hob-nobbed with many of the celebrities

of that era, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra,

Dean Martin, etc.

:-)

TIGER WOODS IS THE BEST!

twitb,

thanks for the excerpt!!!

enjoyed it.

but with the problems Venturi

had with hands, and him playing as a

honorary starter,  and then  making

four birdies too.......   :-)

who knows what could have

happened.  

:-)

TIGER WOODS IS THE BEST!

yes.   Nantz and Venturi together announcing golf were smooth.

some of their early comments about Tiger were edgy and irritating,

but eventually,  they both spoke highly of Tiger.   

:-)

TIGER WOODS IS THE BEST!

Yes when Tiger was winning a lot Nantz liked him.
The past couple yrs Nantz has been one of the wedgy boys from sitting on the fence. As I see it.
For awhile in the past 2 1/2 yrs he was down on Tiger big time, lately he is up and down.

Sr.

i have heard that about Nantz and i am sorry to hear it.

another great couple of commentators who covered

Tiger were Curtis Strange and Mike Tiriko. (spelling)

Strange was a little edgy in his early comments but

also later spoke highly of Tiger.    Tiriko spoke well

of Tiger.   it was good to see them both again

commentating at the Masters this weekend.

:-)

TIGER WOODS IS THE BEST!