Really, the picture couldn’t be clearer

THERE are people -- quite reasonable people, in fact -- who believe that viewing golf on television is as exciting as watching paint dry. To all of those naysayers, I say this: Try listening to it on the radio.

XM radio has many great channels; my programmed buttons include alternative rock’s Lucy and the unexpectedly clever XM Kids. But no satellite radio channel can compare to XM 146, the network’s station devoted to the PGA Tour. It’s so strange, it’s actually brilliant.

The recent British Open featured any number of remarkable story lines, the best of which was the surprising (although ill-fated) showing of the 53-year-old Greg Norman, the mostly retired Australian golfer/winemaker/Chris Evert husband who unexpectedly led the tournament after three rounds. As it turned out, I was in my car for some of Sunday’s final round. So rather than watch on TiVo later Norman hack around and lose the tournament, I punched up the PGA Tour Network on my satellite radio.

“He’s got the ball headed right at the cup, and -- oh, no! -- it stops just inches short.”

“His drive is going way right.”

“The wind is absolutely howling now.”

For modern sports fans obsessed with ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and YouTube highlight videos, XM’s PGA Tour Network, which includes former modestly successful players Mark Carnevale, Dennis Paulson and Larry Rinker, is a fireside chat throwback: a way to let the story unfold in your imagination, not through instant replay.

Dodger fans take their AM radios to games to listen to Vin Scully while they watch the action. It’s much the same with XM’s golf channel: Sometimes, listening is believing.

-- John Horn