Golf analyst and former LPGA player Dottie Pepper joined the CBS golf crew for the '15-16 season with the departure of longtime analyst David Feherty, and the transition has been nothing but smooth. "I was not really anticipating ever going back on the road again full-time, but the golf landscape changed," said Pepper, who was doing part-time work for ESPN. "That landscape included him going to NBC and me coming here and I think we've both been pretty lucky." Pepper has her own "Pepper's Pep Talk" segment each week and recently made history as the first female to be part of a Masters telecast. She caught up with THE DAILY at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte to discuss her time at CBS, the state of women's golf and more.
Q: How has the first half of the year gone at CBS?
Pepper: It's been very, very positive. I'd never worked with (CBS Sports Coordinating Producer Lance Barrow) before. A couple of the other producers I had, but just a whole new dysfunctional family to sort of get to know and how they go about it and different cities that I had never covered golf in. It's been terrific. (The new segment) has been great. It is an opportunity to kind of reach out to fans of golf with non-golf sort of stuff during a tournament and maybe let them know things that they wouldn't otherwise be able to know about the tournament or the place we are.
Q: What was your mindset taking over for David Feherty?
Pepper: I don't look at it like I took over for Feherty. I look at it that David moved to another place, and I came here because I had a distinctive way about how I prepare, how I relay information from a player's standpoint, for my record of having done well in certain events -- thrown up on myself in others -- and just my own style, and I'm just thrilled at the opportunity.
Q: What was your experience in being the first female broadcaster at The Masters?
Pepper: I didn't really look at it that way, I looked at it like, "What broadcaster would not want to be doing this?," and that is the way I tried to prepare. I tried to know as much as I could about the holes I was assigned, but at the same time, I was working for ESPN so I needed to have the broad-based scope of the golf course, the competitors, the leaderboard, not just where I was at the 13th hole. It was a lot of preparation and lead-up, and not a whole lot of sleep, but it was a really memorable week.
Q: What is your assessment of the current state of women's golf? What LPGA players are vital to the success of the tour?
Pepper: If you were a stockbroker, you would list it as a buy. Their schedule has become very stabilized. Geographically, it makes sense. They are going to the right-sized cities now that really appreciate women's golf (and) it becomes the focal point. They've embraced the fact that they are really a world tour, much more so than the PGA Tour. Just look at the number of players that are on that tour, where they're from. From an American standpoint, Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis and Gerina Piller really set themselves apart. I think (the LPGA has) embraced the fact that golf is an international sport. They're all promoted and pushed and I think the media is starting to appreciate them not just as golfers, but they're people stories, and that's what's going to make the LPGA hit and stick.
