The bad blood between Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods got ugly Tuesday night with a perceived racist remark thrown out.
On stage at a European Tour awards dinner, Garcia took a question from the Golf Channel's Steve Sands, in jest, asking whether Garcia would invite Woods over for dinner for the U.S. Open, several media outlets reported
According to The Guardian, Garcia responded:
"We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken."
Through the European Tour, Garcia later said in a statement that he did not intend the remark to be racial in nature and that he regretted the incident.
"I apologise for any offence that may have been caused by my comment on stage during The European Tour Players' Awards dinner," Garcia was quoted as saying. "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 "fried chicken" reference, which is associated as racial stereotypes with African-Americans, has been used before in connection with Woods.
Fuzzy Zoeller also had to backtrack in 1997 for his remark toward Woods after Woods won the Masters, which entitled him to choose the champions dinner the following year.
"You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not serve fried chicken next year. Got it?" Zoeller was reported as saying at the time that multiple media reports referenced Tuesday "Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve."
Zoeller also had to apologize later and said his words were taken out of context.
A long-standing feud between Garcia and Woods gained new traction when the two were paired together for the third round of The Players' Championship two weeks ago. Garcia said Woods distracted him while he was taking a shot on the second hole. Garcia eventually bogeyed the hole.
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