Tiger Woods on Wednesday responded to the racially insensitive remark made bySergio Garcia, saying the comment was “wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate.”
At the European Tour awards dinner on Tuesday night in Wentworth, England, Garcia was asked by Golf Channel’s Steve Sands, who was emceeing the event, whether he would invite Woods over for dinner at the U.S. Open.
Garcia replied, according to multiple media reports: “We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken.”
Garcia apologized within an hour of the original comment, saying in a statement that he “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.”
Woods released a statement via his Twitter account at 8:40 a.m. ET Wednesday. He wrote: “The comment that was made wasn’t silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate. I’m confident that there is real regret that the remark was made. The Players ended nearly two weeks ago and it’s long past time to move on and talk about golf.”
Here is the complete Garcia news conference from Wednesday at the BMW PGA Championship.