Garcia apology left in locker as Woods refuses to be distracted

Garcia escaped punishment for what could be construed as a racist remark about Woods after offering an unreserved apology for his “stupid and out of place” comments at the European Tour’s annual awards ceremony last month.

During a Q&A session involving the full Ryder Cup team, the 33-year-old was asked if he would invite Woods to dinner one night at Merion to end the feud between them, which resurfaced at the Players Championship.

“We will have him round every night,” Garcia said. “We will serve fried chicken.”

Garcia initially issued an apology overnight for his “silly remark” and then held a press conference the following afternoon to apologise again, but was asked by Woods’s agent to wait until the 
US Open to speak to Woods in person.

That occurred on Monday with Woods accepting Garcia’s offered handshake, but the world No 1 said a direct apology was not made.

“We have not had time for that,” Woods said. “We did not discuss anything. He came up and said ‘Hi’ and that was it. It’s already done. It’s time for the US Open.”

Garcia added: “We saw each other on the range. I felt it was not the appropriate place, out of respect to him and the other players to do it there, so I was hoping to meet him after the round but he was gone. This morning I was here early and I did not see him around.

“I did leave him a hand-written note and hopefully he can take a look at it. It’s a big week and I understand that it’s difficult to meet up. Hopefully we will be able to but if not, at least he can read the note and be happy with that.

“If he wants to show you (the media) the note he can, I don’t have any problem with that. But I am not going to be the one showing.”