While Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia are ready to move on from their quarrel, some in the golf community are not. Golfer Colin Montgomerie railed political correctness on Friday in defense of Garcia and PGA executive George O'Grady's racial remarks.
"It's a mountain out of a molehole, to be honest," Montgomerie said on Friday, according to USA Today. "... We're all frightened to say anything; we're frightened to open our mouths in case we say something that isn't kosher in 2013. Somebody should tell us what to say because no one is quite sure what is right and wrong."
Montgomerie, a 49-year-old recent golf Hall of Fame inductee, referred to Garcia's fried chicken remarks toward Woods and O'Grady's "colored athletes" gaffe. Garcia apologized twice after his remark Tuesday night, and O'Grady apologized following his mistake on Thursday.
Woods accepted Garcia's apology and never commented on O'Grady's remark. Tiger asked on Wednesday for everybody to move on and focus on golf.
Montgomerie, however, apparently felt compelled not to let the feud pass without first sharing his opinion.
"I feel for Garcia but then that's me condoning it," he said. "I am not allowed to feel sorry for him. But we are a family here on the European Tour, a close family unit and we stand up for each other. I've played a lot of Ryder Cups with Sergio and we are a very close family and we should remain that way. This shouldn't affect us."
He added: "George (O'Grady) says colored, somebody says black, but who is to say who is right and wrong, and for the chief executive who is a very educated man to get caught up then we need to decide what we can and can't say and move on quickly."
After making his opinion on political correctness known, he seemingly realized what he should have just said to begin with.
"If I get asked at the next press conference I'll have to say 'sorry, no comment' and hope that is not offending anybody," he said. "You just can't say a thing, can you? It's a shame, it's a pity. The three 'no-no's' are race, religion and politics and you're going to upset someone along the line if you mention any of them."
The Woods-Garcia feud began in earnest at The Players Championship over the May 10 weekend. Garcia blamed Woods for interrupting his shot, they exchanged words through the media and the feud took off. The spat turned ugly when Garcia told reporters he would serve Woods fried chicken for dinner. Since Garcia's apology and Woods' acceptance of it, the two golfers have been mum.
