Sergio Garcia apologized to Tiger Woods for saying he would serve fried chicken if they were to have dinner at the U.S. Open, an ugly addition to nearly two weeks of verbal sparring.
What had been a celebration of European golf at an awards dinner south of London shifted suddenly to a racially sensitive moment involving Woods, the No. 1 golfer in the world and the only player of African-American heritage on the PGA Tour.
Garcia said he meant to give a funny answer to a playful question, and it turned out to be “totally stupid and out of place.”
“I feel sick about it and I feel truly, truly sorry,” he said Wednesday from the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, site of the European Tour’s flagship event.
The two golfers have exchanged barbs the last 11 days, dating to the third round of The Players Championship when Garcia implied that Woods purposely stirred up the gallery as the Spaniard was playing a shot. Woods said it was not surprising that Garcia was complaining.
Garcia and his Ryder Cup teammates were at a dinner Tuesday night when the emcee, Golf Channel’s Steve Sands, jokingly asked Garcia if he would have Woods over for dinner during the U.S. Open.
“We’ll have him round every night,” Garcia replied. “We will serve fried chicken.”
The remark was reminiscent of Fuzzy Zoeller’s similar comment about Woods during his record-setting victory in the 1997 Masters, where Woods became the first player of black heritage to win a major.
Garcia issued a statement through the European Tour after the dinner that did not mention Woods by name. He apologized “for any offense that may have been caused” by answering the question with a “silly remark.”
“But in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner,” the statement said.
Woods responded Wednesday morning with a series of tweets that said: “The comment that was made wasn’t silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate.
“I’m confident that there is real regret the remark was made. The Players ended nearly two weeks ago and it’s long past time to move on and talk about golf.”
