Woods seeks to put Garcia spat behind
Dublin (Ohio), May 30: Tiger Woods said on Wednesday he has not spoken to Sergio Garcia and has no plans to do so a week after the golfers got into a spat that was sparked by racially-tinged comments from the Spaniard.
Speaking at the Memorial Tournament, Woods said he does not expect to broach the subject when the two compete at the US Open in two weeks’ time.
“That’s already done with,” said world number one Woods, the day before he tees it up to try and defend his title at the Muirfield Village Golf Club.
Garcia got himself into trouble during a dinner in England when he attempted a joke in which he quipped about spending time with Woods at the US Open.
“We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken,” he said.
The Spaniard’s remarks drew comparisons with a controversy in the late 1990s in which former PGA golfer Fuzzy Zoeller was accused of racism after suggesting that Woods would serve “fried chicken” at a Masters champions dinner.
The Spaniard later apologised at a press conference and was clearly embarrassed by the furore he had caused.
His comments came on the back of an earlier clash with Woods in the third round of the Players Championship earlier this month — the latest in a line of disagreements between the two players over the last decade. At the Players the two were grouped together and locked in a tight battle when Garcia said he was distracted by crowd noise after Woods pulled a club out of his bag, in what he said was deliberate gamesmanship from the American.
The two players have rarely seen eye to eye and Garcia tried to explain his position last week in England.
“You can’t like everybody. He doesn’t need me in his life and I don’t need him in mine. Let’s move on and keep doing what we are doing.”
Woods had tweeted in response to the “fried chicken” remarks: “The comment that was made wasn’t silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate ... It’s long past time to move on and talk about golf.”
Dealing with racial stereotypes is nothing new to Woods. “Well, I live with it,” he said. “It’s happened my entire career. It exists all around the world, not just in the sport of golf.”
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