COLIN MONTGOMERIE HAS risked condemnation after downplaying the racist comments made by Sergio Garcia and George O’Grady.
Garcia was universally condemned last week when he joked that he would serve Woods fried chicken if he came over for dinner, echoing Fuzzy Zoeller’s infamous comments about Woods made after his first US Masters success in 1997.
European Tour chief executive George O’Grady then inflamed matters further when he attempted to diffuse the situation by saying: “Most of Sergio’s friends happen to be coloured athletes in the United States, he is absolutely abject in his apology and we accepted it.”
Both O’Grady and Garcia have issued ‘unreserved apologies’ for their comments. However, European Tour veteran Montgomerie believes the incident has been blown out of proportion.
“It’s a mountain out of a molehill, to be honest. Totally,” he said. “Now we’ve got the (European Tour) chief executive involved in the whole thing having to say ‘sorry’. Christ, 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. George says ‘coloured’, somebody says ‘black’. But who is to say who is right and wrong?”
Montgomerie feels players and officials are now unsure of where the boundaries lie, and added that he ‘felt sorry’ for Garcia.
“We are a family here on the European Tour, a close family unit and we stand up for each other,” Montgomerie said. “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. If I was at the next press conference, I’ll have to say ‘sorry, no comment’ and hope that is not offending anybody. You can’t say a thing, can you?
“The three no-no’s are race, religion and politics and you are going to upset someone along the line if you mention any of them. It’s time to move on and talk about golf.”
