Here's a simple journalism tip: If you get an e-mail that says golf's in-house funnyman David Feherty will be available on conference call, dial the number and turn on your tape recorder.

Feherty -- the former pro turned CBS golf analyst -- is one of the smartest in the business with one of the sharpest tongues. The Northern Irishman can range from sophomoric to Sophoclean faster than Robin Williams on a caffeine trip.

In between the usual funny stuff promoting his irreverent Golden Ferret awards to be revealed in Golf Magazine , however, Feherty provided a lot of thoughtful comment that was surprisingly perfect fodder on Veterans Day.

"The greatest times of my life are the hours that I get to spend with them," Feherty said of the American soldiers and wounded veterans he's become familiar with since visiting Iraq and Kuwait on a USO tour in 2007. "They're astonishing."

Feherty understands what it's like to be injured, having suffered a concussion, several broken ribs, a punctured lung, a shattered shoulder and a crushed elbow in two bicycle vs. motor vehicle accidents this year. He nearly lost his left arm in the first encounter last spring and admits he'll never swing a golf club again.

But he got a taste of real sacrifice before that when he traveled with other golf stars to visit troops in the Middle East and ended up escorting a flag-draped casket on the plane trip home.

"I never knew who it was and I've always regretted not being able to write to his parents or family and let them know what an honor it had been to be with him on one of his last journeys," he said.

Feherty got involved again before Tiger Woods' tournament in Washington with a day of golf with amputees from Walter Reed Hospital. Again, he was the one who got inspired.

"They all figured out a way that they could play golf again and I was just blown away by their attitude and lack of self pity," he said.

So now Feherty has made it his mission to help raise awareness for what the general public can do for these veterans, whether it be giving to charity or greeting them at the airports. He'll play host to a cycling event the week after the 2009 Masters Tournament and is involved with the Troops First Foundation, which hopes to raise $15 million over the next few years to benefit the estimated 30,000 wounded soldiers who will come home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

As his biggest tribute to them, Feherty will apply for U.S. citizenship.

"I'm in the very early stages of it," he said. "I've been Irish my whole life and my wife is from Mississippi and she kind of liked that I was Irish.

"But going to Iraq and being so proud of this country ... it's meant more to me in the last year or so having visited our troops abroad and spent so much time with them at home. It would be a great honor for me to be an American and it's become more important."

A long-time Texas resident, the former European Tour star and 1991 Ryder Cup participant is at home in America.

"The vast majority of Americans haven't traveled and been outside of America and if they don't really understand how wonderful this place is, try living someplace else," he said. "It's well known that this is the greatest country in the world and anything can happen here. The recent election is yet more proof of that."

Whether Feherty can pass the test to earn his citizenship is another story.

"I was never very good at that; I might fail," he said. "I may be a special-needs American."

Here's a few other things Feherty weighed in on:

l On Europe's recent Ryder Cup loss: "I think that European team played about as well as any European team has ever played and got beaten. I thought it was the greatest Ryder Cup I've ever seen. It's an indication of just how important that event is and how it affects players. ... It was just brilliant shot after brilliant shot and they made every putt afterward. You don't see that kind of golf when you have a field of 144, never mind when there's only 24 players on the golf course."

l On his cycling obsession: "I'm very interested in trying to make the roads safer for cyclists because it's my great passion these days, or one of them. I don't drink anymore and I used to spend eight hours a day doing that. Now I spend six to eight hours a day riding. You've got to fill the time with something."

l On his two recent cycling accidents: "The second time it happens to you it seems less like an accident, I can assure you. ... I don't remember anything about (the second one) except waking up in the hospital and Jim Nantz is about 18 inches in front of me looking at me and going, 'No, nothing yet.' That was a horrifying way to wake up."

l On John Daly's latest troubles: "I'm very, very worried about him because he is on a path that I was on for awhile. He knows he has a problem, it's just that he's willing to accept it as part of his life and deal with it because it's not something he wants to give up and thinks his life will be worse without it. I hope he has the strength to ask for help. He's one of the most generous and kindest souls out there. The only person he's ever been unkind to is himself."

l On golf without Tiger Woods: "While the game is certainly better with Tiger around, if nothing else the last few months have shown us just how good the rest of the guys are. These are the guys that Tiger has been beating, I don't know, 35 to 40 percent of the time. It's astonishing. It's given us an idea of just how lucky we are to be around in the Tiger Woods era."