Lynch laugh aside, Nick Faldo shows at Bob Hope why he's now golf's most entertaining color commentator

Nick Faldo probably wishes he could have back that laugh he let out at Kelly Tilghman’s inexplicable - and still pretty much unexplained by her - lynch Tiger Woods line. And if he doesn’t, he should. For most TV talking heads, you could brush it off as simply a nervous response to an offensive crack by a co-worker.

Only Faldo doesn’t seem to do nervous and he definitely doesn’t usually do the tired fake TV laugh. Faldo should have called Tilghman on the line right there on air.

Still, without Tilghman in the booth at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Faldo continues to show why he’s the one voice the Golf Channel cannot afford to lose.

Take these lines from just one hour of watching Faldo in the early rounds.

On actor Kyle MacLachlan who told Golf Channel’s play-by-play voice during the Tilghman suspension Rich Lerner that he was a huge Faldo fan during Faldo’s playing days:

“I’d love to have the chance to talk to him about my game,” Faldo quipped. “Tell me how wonderful I was.”

On national saxaphone embarrassment Kenny G:

“How does he pronounce his G?” And yes it went completely over Lerner’s head, which made it even funnier.

On the image of John Daly putting flashing on the screen after Faldo talked about his new fitness regiment at age 50 (no carbs after lunch):

“It’s all about discipline … Which brings us to John Daly.”

Heck, even Faldo’s story about his mom always splitting her doughnuts in half was interesting, twice as compelling as most golf talk on the air.

At one point, Faldo even fooled Lerner into thinking he was speaking in French. He wasn’t (though he never felt the need to correct it.) It’s slang Lerner, a little slang. Yes, so far Faldo’s been toying a little with the often earnestly befuddled Lerner - in a fun way.

In short, Faldo did the impossible: He transformed the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic - which even makes the fields at the Hawaii events look star-studded by comparison - into something watchable. There’s no doubt. Faldo’s the most entertaining color commentator in golf. Johnny Miller is only holding onto that status by reputation. He’s been passed.

Now, I’d be the first to admit, I could be a little biased when he comes to Faldo. He once helped my mom who has multiple sclerosis off a bus when my mom had no clue in the world who he was. But I still stick by the Faldo’s now the most entertaining voice in golf point being completely valid.

After all, TravelGolf.com blogger RonMon could save three generations of my family from giant Godzilla-sized man-eating fire ants and I’d still never say he was funny.