Sergio Garcia Makes Insensitive Remark About Tiger Woods

The feud between Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods was taken to another level on Tuesday night.

According to The Guardian's Ewan Murray, Garcia was at the European Tour's gala players' awards dinner where he was asked a question about Woods. His answer could be construed as a racist remark: 

"

Garcia was asked in jest if he would have the American round for dinner one night during the upcoming US Open. "We will have him round every night," García said. "We will serve fried chicken."

"

Later on, the Spaniard apologized, saying that his comment was a "silly remark" and not meant to come off in a "racist manner."

On Wednesday, Woods took to Twitter to respond to Garcia's comments:

Garcia then formally apologized to Tiger during a press conference on Wednesday morning. 

Per Sports Illustrated's Richard Deitch:

No matter what Garcia meant with his comments, this will likely serve as yet another landmark in the ongoing spat between the two golfers. 

Garcia's unfortunate choice of words also brought to mind Fuzzy Zoeller's offensive remarks after Woods won his first major back in 1997 at Augusta.  Zoeller was quoted as saying of Woods' win, "You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not serve fried chicken next year. Got it? Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve."

The winner of the Masters traditionally chooses the champions' dinner menu for the following year's tournament.  Zoeller later apologized.

While Woods and Garcia have more or less been rivals for more than a decade, more fuel was added to the fire earlier this month at the Players Championship. 

As he was getting ready to play his second shot, Garcia claimed that he was distracted by cheers for Woods, who was buried deep in the trees about 50 yards away. 

Weeks later, Woods said that he wouldn't contact Garcia to try to smooth things out, and Garcia responded with some choice words:

“He called me a whiner. That’s probably right,” Garcia said to reporters. “It’s also probably the first thing he’s told you guys that’s true in 15 years. I know what he is like. You guys are finding out.”

There is clearly some history between these two, and as such, Garcia may not have intended for his most recent comment to be interpreted as racism. It could have just been a poorly-phrased joke towards a guy he seems to genuinely dislike. 

Either way, you can rest assured that the duo won't be shaking hands anytime soon. Expect more fireworks if they are paired up on tour.