Sergio Garcia offers face-to-face apology to Tiger Woods for fried chicken joke

Sergio Garcia has said he would like to speak to apologise to Tiger Woods in person for the fried chicken joke he made earlier this week.

Garcia, who took issue with Woods for what he viewed as a breach of golf course etiquette during the third round of The Players Championship two weeks ago, was asked in jest at a European Tour function if he would be inviting Woods to dinner during next month’s U.S. Open.

Garcia replied: “We’ll have him ’round every night. We will serve fried chicken.”

The Spaniards joke has now caused a media storm, with some suggesting the remark was racist and had racist undertones.

Immediately regretting what he said did and revealing he had been awake all night worrying about the consequences, the pro golfer immediately called a press conference to apologise for his comments.

In a press conference yesterday at the West Course, a visibly shaken Garcia admitted he was wrong to say what he did.

“I want to send out an unreserved apology, I did not mean to offend anyone,” said Garcia “I was caught off guard by the question but don’t get me wrong, I understand my answer was totally stupid and out of place.

“I can’t say sorry enough. I would also like to say sorry to the European Tour and my Ryder Cup team-mates for taking the shine away from a wonderful dinner that we all enjoyed until that moment.

“Finally and most importantly I want to apologise to Tiger and anyone that I could have offended. I feel sick about it and truly, truly story. Hopefully we can settle things down and move on.”

“I will try to talk to Tiger or one of his representatives. I hope to apologise face-to-face and then move on.”

He added: “I met with Tim Finchem (commissioner of the PGA Tour) and George O’Grady (chief executive of the European Tour) and they both accepted my apology.

“So I don’t believe there will be any further problems.”

Garcia admitted he thought about pulling out of the tournament but will try and do his best despite finding it hard to play.

“My mind is not in the greatest place at the moment but I feel like the tournament deserves to have me, it has nothing to do with it. It was all on me.

“As soon as I left the dinner I started to get a sick feeling. I didn’t really sleep at all. I felt like my heart was going to come out of my body. It was tough to hit a shot (in the pro-am) without thinking about it.

“I want to go out there tomorrow and try and give everything I have. I’ll try my hardest to do well and make sure that people can enjoy watching me play.”

On Wednesday morning, Tiger responded to the Spaniards comments, Tweeting: “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.”