A Heartbreaking Act Of Staggering Hypocrisy

David Feherty's suggestion of Colin Montgomerie securing a possible injunction preventing a tabloid from publishing potentially embarrassing revelations comes after a hysterical few months of the CBS announcer and Golf Magazine columnist railing against the media for reporting the private life of Tiger Woods. It also comes just days after Feherty confirmed that Tiger is going through a divorce, something no other major golf reporter has actually suggested.

The latest Feherty episode is heartbreaking because, well, I selfishly dread the day when CBS golf telecasts no longer include his quick wit and insight, moving them even closer to resembling unusually long and dull infomercials. And after a string of embarrassments, that day may come soon.

However, when contacted to comment on Feherty's remarks or the possibility of Feherty offering more reporting on the potential Ryder Cup impact of this revelation during this weekend's CBS telecast, spokesperson LeslieAnne Wade had "No comment..."

Let's review what Feherty and interviewer Dan Patrick said Tuesday.  A full transcript as well as YouTube audio version of the interview is up at SportsByBrooks.

Dan Patrick: “I’m hearing there’s a story in the News of the World and it has to do with a prominent golfer. Have you heard anything about the player filing an injunction against the newspaper to keep the story out of the press?“

David Feherty: “There’s all kinds of stuff swirling about this. It’s a Colin Montgomerie story and no one seems to know what it’s about but apparently there’s been an injunction filed to keep this story out of the newspapers for how long you can do that I don’t know.”

Dan Patrick: “Are there pictures? … he got divorced, right?”

David Feherty: “He got divorced and then remarried and then there was something about another woman that I really paid very little attention to in newspapers on either side of the Atlantic.”

It was Feherty who brought Monty's name into the equation. But he's not paying much attention to media reports. Just confirming the most inflammatory rumors on a nationally syndicated radio show!

Dan Patrick: “But the timing of this … with the Ryder Cup and he’s the Ryder Cup Captain?”

David Feherty: “Oh, yeah.”

Dan Patrick: “Yeah, that’s the big issue. You can file an injunction to keep a story (out of the press), you can do that in Europe, right?”

David Feherty: “You can do it in the United Kingdom for a certain length of time but the chances of this remaining a secret until after the Ryder Cup I think are just zero. I’m not sure what’s going on, but it’s not very good.”

Dan Patrick: “It’ll break here in the United States, wouldn’t you think?”

David Feherty: “I would think.”

And how did it break? Why, it was this very interview! Nice going fellas.

Many golf writers have heard some version of this Monty-injunction tale with no hard evidence of its veracity. Not one of them has written about it or revealed it and certainly not revealed the rumor on a national radio show. Yet Feherty has been outspoken in his contempt for the media's reporting of the Tiger saga. 

From his February, 2010 Golf Magazine column:

That being said, I've been trying to think of an equivalent example of the grim, ghastly, gleeful, and positively gloat-ridden coverage of a prominent public figure's fall from grace. So far, I've come up empty. By comparison, Bill Clinton got off with a slap on the trouser-trout, and he was in charge of the free world! I guarantee you, the only thing Tiger Woods is in charge of right now is a border collie named Taz. Kobe Bryant blinged his way to the land of forgive-and-forgetfulness, Michael Vick is playing football, yet Tiger's crucifixion continues, hoisted up and stabbed daily by the TMZ-US and People magazine culture that needs to know every detail about every transgression committed by every person who has a public side to their life. I hate it, and I'm glad the bastards haven't found out about me.

The only reason the public knows about Monty's possible situation is you, Mr. Feherty. Yes, a few blogs reported it within minutes of your remarks, but they don't quite get the attention that Patrick's show garners.

So what's the difference between talking about Tiger and Monty's possible indiscretions?

Perhaps the answer lies in an interview at ArgusLeader.com when talking about the Tiger coverage.

Having gone through a British tabloid divorce myself, it was predictable at first and then just became sickening after a while. The amount of people who owe Tiger Woods something - people on TV stations, sports stations that probably wouldn't have a job if it weren't for Tiger Woods - are complaining he's not giving them the information that they need. I don't know where that sense of entitlement came from where we have to know everything about everybody and what happened. He said, 'Hey, look at the police report and that's it.' That should have done it.

But that didn't satisfy the TMZ crew or the entertainment faction and it kind of infected the sports journalists, as well, where I think a bunch of them kind of forgot just what he's done for the game.

So does this mean Monty hasn't done enough for the game to deserve the respect for privacy he longs for Tiger to receive?