The feud between Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia took an ugly, racist turn on Tuesday night. So bad, according to ESPN, that Garcia has since apologized twice.
Garcia got himself in hot water Tuesday night during a golfing event in London. A reporter jokingly asked if Garcia would invite Woods to dinner at the upcoming U.S. Open. Garcia answered, "We'll have him 'round every night. We will serve fried chicken."
The 33-year-old Spaniard quickly backpedalled from his folly. He issued his first apology Tuesday night and said in a statement that his remark was "silly".
"I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during the European Tour Players' Award dinner," Garcia said. "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."
Garcia apologized again the next day.
"I want to apologize to Tiger and anybody that I could have offended," Garcia told reporters on Wednesday. "I feel sick about it. I'm truly, truly sorry. And I hope we can kind of settle things down and hopefully move on."
Woods denounced Garcia's remark Wednesday morning and tweeted, "The comment that was made wasn't silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate."
He added: "I'm confident that there is real regret that the remark was made."
Garcia and Woods have exchanged quips for almost two weeks. Garcia fired the first shot on May 11 during the second day of The Players Championship at Sawgrass. He felt Woods intentionally interfered with his shot, to which Woods called him a complainer. The two continued to trade barbs in the days and weeks to follow, with Garcia implying on Monday that Woods was a liar.
With the U.S. Open in three weeks, Woods hopes that the attention can shift from their quarrel and return to the game.
"The Players ended nearly two weeks ago," he tweeted, "and its long past time to move on and talk about golf."