One day after he begged for forgiveness at a packed press conference following his careless racially insensitive comments about Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia found solace inside the ropes.
Garcia got back to playing golf yesterday, shooting an even-par 72 in the opening round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in England.
Wentworth, the home base of the European Tour, was a perfect landing place for Garcia after the controversy since it was somewhat of a home game for him. There was polite applause when he was introduced and no sign of the heckling he is sure to endure at next month’s U.S. Open at Merion.
Garcia was also paired with two friends for the first two rounds — Luke Donald and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano. He is six shots behind James Kingston, who leads after shooting a 6-under 66.
“I felt the warmth from the people,” he told reporters after the round. “That helped. I feel like I have great support from people all over the world, not just in Europe. I’m very lucky with that and very grateful.”
Garcia, who revealed on Wednesday he strongly considered withdrawing from the tournament because of the mess he made, said yesterday “wasn’t easy,” adding, “There were moments. It felt a bit different. It’s been a tough week.”
Asked if he’s contacted Woods to apologize in person for his “fried chicken’’ comment, Garcia said: “Unfortunately not. We talked to [Woods’s agent] Mark Steinberg, and he said that they are moving forward. But if I manage to talk to him, perfect; if not, I’ll definitely see him at the U.S. Open and we can talk face-to-face.”
While Garcia was playing his opening round, which was saved by an eagle on the 18th hole to get him back to even par, George O’Grady, the top executive at the European Tour, was unwittingly starting another racial brushfire.
In a Sky Sports TV interview, O’Grady, addressing Garcia’s ill-fated fried chicken joke, said: “We know the connotation in the United States. We accept all races on the European Tour. Most of Sergio’s friends happen to be colored athletes in the United States, he is absolutely abject in his apology and we accepted it and are moving on.”
O’Grady’s casual use of the racially insensitive term “colored” caused another uproar and two hours later, he issued this apologetic statement: “I deeply regret using an inappropriate word in a live interview for Sky Sports for which I unreservedly apologize.’’
When Garcia finished his round, he heard about O’Grady’s remarks and said: “I’ve been told about it. It’s unfortunate.”
* Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe’s last Ryder Cup captain and a fellow Spaniard, also weighed in on the contentious Garcia-Woods relationship, saying: “It started nicely, they were friends, I remember, together on the practice greens. But it seems to have cooled. Now this is not good. They need to sort this for the good of the game.”
Olazabal, who was the guest of honor at the Ryder Cup reunion dinner on Tuesday night at Wentworth, where Garcia put his foot in his mouth, said, “What Sergio said, I don’t think he meant it in a bad way. I was there, I don’t think he meant it in the bad way some people have taken it.”