Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia have never been very friendly with one another and after the spat they had the Players Championship two weeks ago, things finally came to a head at the European Tour awards dinner, when Garcia was asked a joke question and made a racist comment as an answer.
Garcia said that he would serve fried chicken to Woods when asked if he would have him over for dinner during the US Open, sparking Garcia to later apologize. Woods was miffed at the comment and took to Twitter to say that it was wrong, but that he put it behind him and now it's over with. Tiger has always been about the golf and this year he truly is, as he has won four times on tour heading into the Open and he now is the favorite to win to end his major drought after a number of years. Woods is back in first in the world rankings after taking it from Rory McIlroy by winning three times ahead of the Masters, including the Farmers Insurance Open, WGC Cadillac Championship and the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The next scheduled tournament is the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial this weekend, followed by the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance before the FedEx St. Jude Classic, which will be the last tournament before the U.S. Open Golf Championship at
Merion Golf Club in Ardmore.
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Garcia said "sorry" 11 times and used the word "apology" on five occasions as he spoke of his regret at causing a furor by making a "fried chicken" jibe at world number one Tiger Woods. Fried chicken has become a racial stereotype in the United States when referring to African-Americans - a reference to the days before the abolition of slavery when chicken was believed to be a staple part of the diet.
Fourteen-times major winner Woods, whose relationship with the Spaniard is frosty at best, was in unforgiving mood earlier in the day. The 33-year-old Spaniard then took part in a hastily-arranged news conference on the eve of the PGA Championship at Wentworth to underline his regret.
Garcia and Woods fell out this month after an incident at the Players Championship in Florida. The gallery erupted during Garcia's backswing upon seeing the world number one reach for his five-wood for a daring escape from a tee shot that finished deep into the trees.
Garcia's remarks echoed those made by former U.S. Masters winner Fuzzy Zoeller in 1997 when he joked with reporters to tell Woods not to ask for "fried chicken or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve" at the next year's Champions dinner.
"I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner. I understand my answer was totally stupid and out of place and...I can't say sorry enough about that.
"I'd also like to say sorry to the European Tour and to my Ryder Cup team mates for taking the shine away from what was a wonderful dinner that we all thoroughly enjoyed until that moment," said Garcia.
"Finally, and most importantly, I want to apologize to Tiger. I feel sick about it, I'm truly, truly sorry and hope we can kind of settle things down and move on."
(Reuters Quotes)
