Tiger Woods, on Wednesday did his best to diffuse the rift between him and Sergio Garcia, insisting to reporters that their recent spat is “done with.’’
Garcia, who last week used a racially-insensitive “fried chicken’’ joke in reference to Woods and quickly apologized in public, said he planned to apologize to Woods in person.
Woods, speaking publicly for the first time since the Garcia comments, was asked by reporters on the eve of this week’s Memorial at Muirfield Village if Garcia spoke to him.
“Not in person, no,’’ Woods said.
Garcia and Woods, who do not like each other, were embroiled in a disagreement at The Players Championship, where Garcia accused Woods of intentionally distracting him while they were paired together in the third round.
Garcia then made the fried chicken joke at a European Tour dinner last Tuesday, sparking flames of controversy because of its racial implications.
Woods was asked Wednesday if he is surprised that, after being in the PGA Tour spotlight for some 17 years, the undercurrent of racism remains.
“Well, I live it,’’ he said. “It’s happened my entire life, and it’s happened my entire career. So that doesn’t surprise me. It exists all around the world, not just in the sport of golf. It exists everywhere. I know that a lot of people are trying to make a difference and trying to make it more fair for us all.’’
Jack Nicklaus, the host of the tournament this week, also sounded like he was ready to move on from the Woods-Garcia flap.
“The Sergio-Tiger thing, I mean it’s stupid,” Nicklaus said. “I mean … do guys have an issue with one another? They usually resolve it themselves. You guys want to resolve it in the newspapers today. Nobody needs that. And I think they both finally said it’s enough. Let’s move on.”
It has been a year of controversy in golf, with the Woods rules infraction issue at the Masters, the Woods-Garcia showdown and Garcia’s subsequent banquet comments, Rory McIlroy’s struggles since his change to Nike equipment, Vijay Singh’s lawsuit against the PGA Tour and the USGA and R&A banning of the anchored putter.
Asked if these kinds of stories are good for golf, Woods joked, “Well, I’ve won four times this year.’’
Woods, the defending champion, enters this week having won the Memorial in five of the 13 times he’s played.
He will be paired for the first two rounds with Fred Couples, who’s a long-time friend and whose caddie for 21 years was Joe LaCava, Woods’ current caddie.
Woods and LaCava on Tuesday visited Merion for a U.S. Open practice round. It was the first time Woods has ever been to the course.
“I don’t think it will play quite as long as what we played it (Tuesday),’’ he said. “It was just low 60s, raining all day and windy. I don’t think it will quite be like that in June. From what everyone said, I did not have the inkling that it was going to be as long as it was. It was raining sideways and it was just an ugly day. We played it as probably long as it will ever be played.
“In June, obviously the weather won’t be like that. It will be hotter. The ball will be flying. The clubs will be different, but the lines will be the same. It was nice to see and get an understanding of what I need to visualize and my prep next week and get ready for that.’’