DUBLIN, Ohio — The latest chapter in the Tiger Woods-Sergio Garcia flap is going to be the last chapter, Woods said on Wednesday.
The world's No. 1 golfer is set to defend his title at the Memorial Tournament just outside of Columbus, Ohio, this weekend. Woods played a pro-am round here at Muirfield Village on Wednesday after playing at Merion in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, site of the US Open beginning June 13. In his pre-tournament news conference, Woods said any fallout from Garcia's offensive comments last week is in the past.
"It's already done with," Woods said. "It's time to move on."
Garcia is not playing the Memorial this weekend. After finishing 19th at the BMW PGA Championship in England last weekend, Garcia said he reached out to Woods and planned to apologize in person at Merion for referencing Woods and fried chicken at a European PGA gathering last week.
Garcia apologized publicly. Woods responded via Twitter, writing that "the comment that was made wasn't silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate. I'm confident that there is real regret that the remark was made.
"The Players ended nearly two weeks ago and it's long past time to move on and talk about golf."
The cold relationship between Woods and Garcia grew more strained during the Players Championship earlier this month when Garcia accused Woods of pulling a club and causing the fans to cheer in this middle of Garcia's backswing during the third round. Woods won the tournament, which preceded Garcia's fried chicken remark by a few days.
Woods said it's a shame that he's still dealing with racially insensitive remarks 17 years into his professional golf career.
"It's happened my entire life and my entire career," he said.
Asked his thoughts on so many golf stories in 2013 dealing with off-course issues — his spat with Garcia, Vijay Singh's lawsuit against the PGA Tour, the anchor-putting issue — Woods said simply, "I've won four times this year."
His title at last year's Memorial was his fifth at the tournament and the 73rd of his career, which tied him with the Memorial's host and founder, Jack Nicklaus.
Nicklaus also met with the media Wednesday.
"The Sergio-Tiger thing is stupid," Nicklaus said.
