When retired pro golfer David Feherty took on his own, self-titled interview series, Feherty, for the Golf Channel in mid-2011, the then-on-course reporter for the PGA Tour on CBS wasn’t exactly counting on the show becoming his career.
“I wasn’t sure I’d make it to 10 episodes,” he laughed during an interview with B&C.
On March 6, Feherty begins airing its seventh season, with the show’s producers expecting to hit 100 episodes this year. And first up during the show’s regular 9 p.m. ET time slot is someone Feherty has been begging to get on the show: World Golf Hall of Fame member Phil Mickelson.
“Been trying to get Mickelson for three years,” Feherty said, shortly after wrapping up his interview with the legendary golfer. “He’s one of those players you always wonder about, and he’s really interesting.”
Feherty’s coming off a pretty singular year for any show host, much less one in golf: 2016 saw him interview presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump; profiled on HBO’s original series Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel; served as an NBC Olympic correspondent in Rio; and even made a guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Having his show hit record viewership levels didn’t hurt either.
“I just show up with little to no preparation and do the interviews,” he said, half-jokingly.
Part of what’s made Feherty appealing beyond the golf die-hards has been that the guests have had broad appeal, with retired NBA star Charles Barkley, president Bill Clinton, actor Samuel L. Jackson, former NCAA basketball coach Bobby Knight and fellow talk show host and journalist Charlie Rose among those previously appearing on the show.
The seventh season promises much of the same: former U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice is on tap for the fourth episode of Feherty this season. Oscar-winning actor Matthew McConaughey has agreed to appear this year as well, along with five-time PGA Tour winner Patrick Reed.
World Golf Hall of Fame members Nancy Lopez, Hale Irwin and Mark O’Meara are also scheduled to appear on the show this season.
And while Feherty was excited to have finally reeled in Mickelson for his show, he does have one golf icon that has yet to appear, one he’d love to put into his guest chair.
“Tiger [Woods],” he said.
