While attending the European Tour's Players' Awards dinner in London on Tuesday night, Garcia made an extremely off-color quip when asked by the event's emcee, Steve Sands of The Golf Channel, if he would be inviting Tiger Woods over for dinner during the upcoming U.S. Open.
"We will have him round every night," García responded, according to The Guardian. "We will serve fried chicken."
The Daily Mail reports that some guests were shocked by the racist joke and one player described simply as "one leading Tour professional," said to a journalist "You didn't hear that."
The exchange was picked up by several media outlets, including The Golf Channel and ESPN. Soon after, Garcia issued an apology via the European Tour that was obtained by the Associated Press:
“I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during the European Tour Players’ Awards dinner. 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 rivalry between the two golf greats really heated up during The Players Championship, where Garcia accused Woods of distracting hiim while they paired during the third round. Woods ended up winning the tournament.
Source: huffingtonpost.com
