Fried chicken comments get golfer in trouble, chaos ensues

[Ralph Wiggum]

For those who don't follow golf, Sergio Garcia of Spain and Tiger Woods got into several spats in the past few weeks.  It escalated this week in several ways:

Saying he had difficulty sleeping and contemplated withdrawing from this week's European Tour event, Sergio Garcia on Wednesday afternoon apologized for racially insensitive remarks directed at Tiger Woods at a tour function outside London the previous night, acknowledging his comments were "totally stupid and out of place."

The two golfers have been engaged in a war of words going back two weeks to The Players Championship, and it turned ugly Tuesday night with Garcia's admitted poor attempt at humor, which prompted a tweet from Woods: "The comment that was made wasn't silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate."

Garcia jokingly answered a question at a European Tour players dinner Tuesday night about getting together with Woods at the U.S. Open by saying, "We'll have him 'round every night. We will serve fried chicken."

"Fried chicken" references are associated with racial stereotypes of African-Americans.

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There is a backstory on this:

At the 1997 Masters tournament, Zoeller made a racist remark regarding Tiger Woods. After finishing tied for 34th place with a score of 78, Zoeller, referring to the following year's Masters Champions Dinner, for which the defending champion selects the menu, said, "He's doing quite well, pretty impressive. That little boy is driving well and he's putting well. He's doing everything it takes to win. So, you know what you guys do when he gets in here? You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not to serve fried chicken next year. Got it." Zoeller then smiled, snapped his fingers, and walked away before turning and adding, "or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve." K-Mart and Dunlop ceased sponsoring Zoeller after the incident.

Then, the CEO of the European golf tour piled on the racially insensitive bandwagon:

The head of the European golf tour has apologized for using the term "colored" during a live television interview in which he was reacting to the spat between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia.

European Tour CEO George O'Grady said Thursday that "most of Sergio's friends are colored athletes in the United States."

O'Grady said he regrets "using an inappropriate word in a live interview," and added "I unreservedly apologize."

The word "colored" is considered an antiquated and offensive term in some countries.

 

[NHSparky]

So much for those "enlightened" Euros.

Face it, Sergio.  You're not worthy of holding Tiger's jock.  ESPN showed a hell of a stat yesterday.  When tied for or holding the outright lead after the third round of a tournament, Tiger will win 93 percent of the time.  Sergio?  30 percent. 

Telling, that.

[Lacarnut]

Both of them are arrogant self centered brats who whine when things do not go their way. Tiger should have been disqualified when he signed his score card incorrectly.

I used to be an avid golfer but it is hard to watch these prima donnas on TV with their slow play. The officials should start penalizing all the players that take over 4 1/2 to 5 hours playing 18 holes and quit worrying about things like the belly putter.

As far as the fried chicken remark, don't see it as racist but he certainly was trying to poke Tiger .