Tiger Woods takes to Twitter, slams Sergio Garcia’s ‘fried chicken’ joke
In a tiresome feud that now has reached well past its expiration date because the two sides refuse to let it die, Tiger Woods has responded to Sergio Garcia’s recent insensitive and arguably racist comments on Twitter.
Speaking onstage at European Tour’s gala awards dinner at Wentworth in England, Garcia was asked by The Golf Channel’s Steve Sands if he intended to try to extend an olive branch to Woods by inviting him to dinner during next month’s U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club.
Bringing back memories of Fuzzy Zoeller’s comments about what Tiger would serve at the Champions Dinner following his win at the 1997 Masters, Garcia responded, “We will have him round every night,” adding, “We will serve fried chicken.”
Not surprisingly, Garcia immediately issued a statement apologizing for the comments, saying, “I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during The European Tour Players’ Awards dinner.” His statement continued, “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.”
The apology apparently was insufficient in Tiger’s eyes, as Woods took to Twitter on Wednesday morning. And Woods lambasted Garcia in his responses, castigating his rival and his comments, calling them “wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate.”
Via @TigerWoods:
The comment that was made wasn’t silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate…
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) May 22, 2013
A subsequent tweet from Woods did acknowledge that despite the wrongness of Garcia’s alleged joke, Tiger does believe Garcia regrets making it:
I’m confident that there is real regret that the remark was made. — Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) May 22, 2013
This regrettable feud began when Garcia accused Woods of intentionally attempting to distract him mid-swing during the third round of The Players Championship by playing up his club selection to the gallery, something Garcia alleged following the round:
Things went back and forth between in the ensuing days with the golfers trading barbs, but Tiger suggests — as many would agree — that it’s time to move on.
The Players ended nearly two weeks ago and it’s long past time to move on and talk about golf.
— Tiger Woods (@TigerWoods) May 22, 2013
Couldn’t agree more.
