EUROPEAN TOUR CEO MAKES THE SERGIO RACIAL SLUR WORSE

By Torleif Sorenson on 5/23/13

It was bad enough that Sergio Garcia used a racial stereotype, which could cost him his corporate sponsorships.

But on Thursday, European Tour CEO George O'Grady made things even worse in a rather feckless attempt at damage control. As reported by both the Associated Press and Reuters, O'Grady made the following comment in an interview with Sky Sports:

"We accept all races on the European Tour, we take it very strongly. Most of Sergio's friends are colored athletes in the United States and he is absolutely abject in his apology and we accepted it."

O'Grady's use of the inappropriate word "colored" might be caused by a cultural disconnect on the part of O'Grady, who lives in England. Whatever the root cause of his offensive remark, the "damage control people" on the European Tour evidently got to O'Grady quickly, who had to issue yet another apology and more damage control of his own:

"I deeply regret using an inappropriate word in a live interview for Sky Sports for which I unreservedly apologize."

O'Grady's comments were monumentally badly-timed, coming at the start of the European Tour's signature event, the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in Virginia Water, England.

For their part, the European Tour's web site and marketing staff are silent on the matter, as of this writing. But it is painfully evident that Sergio Garcia and his mouth are not the only ones on the European Tour needing to be kept on a very short leash.


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Image via European Tour