CBS's Feherty apologizes for political joke in magazine

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AP) -- CBS Sports golf analyst David Feherty apologized Sunday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for a morbid joke that went bad in a Dallas magazine.

Feherty, one of the most popular golf analysts for his sharp wit and self-deprecating humor, was among five Dallas residents who wrote for D Magazine on former President George W. Bush moving to Dallas.

"From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this though," Feherty wrote toward the end of his column. "Despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, there's a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death."

Feherty, a former Ryder Cup player who grew up in Northern Ireland, has gone to Iraq over Thanksgiving the past two years to visit with U.S. troops, and he created a foundation to help wounded soldiers.

"This passage was a metaphor meant to describe how American troops felt about our 43rd president," Feherty said in a statement. "In retrospect, it was inappropriate and unacceptable, and has clearly insulted Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid, and for that, I apologize. As for our troops, they know I will continue to do as much as I can for them both at home and abroad."

The PGA TOUR immediately distanced itself from Feherty's writing.

"David Feherty is an insightful and sometimes humorous commentator for CBS Sports' golf coverage," the PGA TOUR said in a statement. "However, his attempt at humor in this instance went over the line, and his comments were clearly inappropriate. We hope he will use better judgment in the future."

CBS Sports said it was "an unacceptable attempt at humor and is not in any way condoned, endorsed or approved" by the network. CBS resumes its PGA TOUR coverage this week in San Antonio with the Valero Texas Open.

Feherty has lived in Dallas the past dozen years. Along with working for CBS Sports, he writes a monthly column for GOLF Magazine and has written four books, the last one titled, "An Idiot for All Season."

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