And the winner is ... Charley Hoffman, the wild-haired Californian in red shoes who charged to victory last week at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. But our columnist says there was another star performer at the annual four-course celebrity shindig in the desert.

By Grant Boone, Special to PGA.com

First off, thanks to everyone who sent me condolences after seeing the list of Oscar nominees on Tuesday and noting I'd once again been snubbed by the Academy. It was an honor just to not be nominated.

In other entertainment news, Hoffman won the Hope. You'd never admit it, but I know your first thought when you saw the headline: "The celebrities are eligible to win the tournament?" Then you saw a picture of the winner and had your second thought: "That's not Dustin Hoffman, that's Gary Busey!" Immediately followed by your third thought: "Or is it Nick Nolte? I never remember which one's which." The answers to your questions are "no," "no," and "neither does anyone else." That would make your fourth thought, "Was it Gary Busey wearing a wig inspired by Nolte's post-DUI mug shot in 2002?"

"No" again. The winner Sunday was Charley Hoffman, which begs your fifth thought, "Who's Charley Hoffman?" Fair question. Hoffman, in his second year on Tour, is a 30-year-old San Diegan. San Diegoan. San Diegite. Whatever you call 'em. Just stay classy.

Your sixth and final thought on the matter: "Was Hoffman wearing one of those hats you buy in a 7-Eleven that comes equipped with the dangling mullet?" Answer: We're looking into it.

Hoffman may well be the most hirsute hoister of hardware in Tour history, a regular Hairy Vardon. And he's the first in recent memory to win with red shoes. There's no place like the winner's circle.

But Hoffman made much more than a fashion statement down the stretch Sunday. Two down with two holes to play on a surprisingly cold and blustery day in the desert, he watched fellow competitor Jeff Quinney ace the 17th. Undaunted, Hoffman proceeded to birdie that same hole and eagle the par-5 18th to force a playoff, which he won over John Rollins with another birdie.

When a guy finishes like that, who cares if he looks like Spicoli at Ridgemont High's 10-year reunion? You just won the Hope! Hey, bud, let's party!

Meanwhile, this has been a three-week coming-out party of sorts for GOLF CHANNEL as the network commenced its 15-year partnership with the PGA Tour by airing each of the season's first three events. Beginning with this week's Buick Invitational, GC will televise the early rounds of each Tour event and air complete coverage of selected tournaments throughout the year.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not a neutral observer, having been gainfully employed by GC as an announcer since 2000. While the coverage wasn't perfect, I was impressed with the new look and total package GC put out there. They're broadcasting the big leagues on a full-time basis now, and the shows definitely have a look commensurate with the players and the Tour they're covering.

GC was ahead of the game before it signed on this season because of who it had signed on for this new batch of telecasts. Snatching up Nick Faldo (who'll also work for CBS plus ABC's British Open coverage) and using the equally ubiquitous Dottie Pepper (also of NBC) gave GC's opening shows immediate clout.

Faldo is already the most entertaining lead analyst ever to sit in an 18th tower. (His signature "'ello, 'ello" is a winner.) Pepper spices up every broadcast with both her insight and spunk. (She's somehow figured out a way to stand up to Johnny Miller on the NBC shows without sounding as if she wants to spar with him, although I'd be the first to shell out the cash to watch that bout on pay-per-view and spend the rest of my money wagering heavily on Dottie.)

The two stars have blended well with GC's in-house announcers, and that's largely a credit to senior producer Keith Hirshland, who plays the role of head coach, creating a team atmosphere and putting people into positions in which they can succeed. I promise you that team chemistry, both good and bad, in a television compound isn't accidental.

Of all the people for whom I've been excited about GOLF CHANNEL's big move, I'm happiest for Hirshland and on-course announcer Jerry Foltz. It was Hirsh who told the entire crew before their first live telecast back in 1995 that he wouldn't be surprised if they were doing majors in 10 years. He was way off. It took only five before GC was airing the LPGA Championship. Landing the exclusive cable rights to the Tour may have exceeded everyone's predictions.

Foltz is the best on-course announcer you may have never heard of until now. Having spent the better part of 15 years playing and covering the Nationwide Tour (winning in 1995), Foltzy's on a first-name (and third-beer) basis with most of the guys playing the PGA Tour these days. He's earned this call-up, and he's been terrific these last three weeks. (I willingly extend him this encomium despite the fact that he once asked me after noticing my pants were overstarched, "Didn't I see you outside the hotel last night walking a pair of Dockers?" I deserved that after once telling our viewing audience that Jerry was covering the LPGA event we were doing that week as part of his court-ordered sensitivity training.)

I must say I wasn't optimistic when I heard Pat Green had cut a theme song for GC's Tour telecasts, especially in light of how majestic CBS' and NBC's music has been through the years. Hard to imagine Jim Nantz coming out of a Pat Green ditty with his trademark "Hello, friends ..." But this song of Green's is aptly named: it indeed "Feels Just Like It Should" be GC's theme song. Besides, GC isn't trying to be CBS or NBC, nor should it.

GC should take calculated risks, and they've done it by putting Kelly Tilghman in the anchor chair alongside Faldo, thereby making Tilghman the first woman to host coverage of a men's tournament. That continued a pattern of giving women opportunities most networks wouldn't. In 2005, Beth Hutter became the first woman to produce a golf telecast when she very ably did the Nationwide Tour's Cox Classic, the tournament Jason Gore won to earn his instant promotion to the Tour.

Tilghman's always been a hit with GC viewers, but there are plenty of people (including a lot of men in the business) rooting against her in this historic role. I'm pulling for her, in part because she's a friend of mine and in part because I have a daughter whom I hope will one day have the opportunity and courage to be the first woman to do something.

It's tough enough to sit in that chair under any circumstances. The anchor is essentially a traffic cop, trying to talk to the viewer, draw analysis from her fellow announcers, keep tabs on what's happening in the tournament, and listen to the producer's instructions, often simultaneously. Throw in the fact that Tilghman was working with an incredibly powerful personality, not to mention a legitimate superstar of the game, in Faldo and riding herd on an announce team that had never worked together, and I thought she held her own (which is certainly less embarrassing than holding someone else's on national television).

The rest of the team was solid, too, including Rich Lerner, who's not a minority but is in his own unique way an Afro-American. Ten years ago, when the two of us were working in Dallas, Rich and I teamed up to win the Byron Nelson Classic's media day tournament on a particularly windswept Metroplex Monday. When we picked up our team picture afterward, Rich took a peek at his especially bushy coif and said, "Whoa, nice hair ... for a woman."

Which brings us back to Charley Hoffman or Gary Busey or Spicoli or whoever that was with the overgrown locks and the oversized check after that sweaty-palm Sunday playoff. We'll know in due time whether Hoffman's a one-hit wonder or if his derring-'Do signals that a star has indeed been born. But even if he's not the Hair apparent to Tiger Woods, it's okay. We don't need one for the moment. Woods is here for the foreseeable future, including this week at Torrey Pines where he'll try to extend his PGA TOUR win streak to seven.

The hometown Hoffman will get the red carpet treatment, too. And here's guessing that as long as the TOUR mails him a real check for 900 large, Hoffman will happily take second billing and simply ask, "May I have the envelope please ..."

Grant Boone is a husband, father, golf broadcaster, and sports journalist based in Abilene, Texas. His column appears on PGA.com each Wednesday and every day during major championships and other big events. He can be contacted at pgagrant@hotmail.com.

The views and opinions expressed here do not reflect those of PGA.com or The PGA of America.