Tiger and Sergio

Tiger Woods fell back at bit in the BMW Championship today, mostly because he picked up a two stroke penalty for unintentionally moving his ball a few tenths of an inch, caught on review only because his every move, each twitch is capured on camera. It's not the same for everyone else -- it goes with the territory but really is not very fair. 

Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods

Be that as it may, one result of the penalty is Tiger dropped into a tie with Sergio Garcia. They will be teeing off together tomorrow morning at 11:50 CDT. It's the first time they will be paired together since Garcia moped and whined about Woods' alleged discourtesy during the Players Championship. After the round the duo exchanged barbs. The next week Garcia stepped into it big time.

Asked when he would be inviting Woods round for dinner at the US Open next month, the Spaniard replied “he can come every night - we will serve fried chicken.”

The racist overtones caused a stir at the prestigious European Tour Player Awards and continued an ill-tempered transatlantic exchange with Woods following their latest fall-out at the Players Championship a fortnight ago.

"I apologise for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during the European Tour Players' Awards dinner," Garcia said. "I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner."

Garcia followed Fuzzy Zoeller through the casual racism trap door, falling the wrong side of what is acceptable in banter. After Woods record victory at the 1997 Masters Zoeller said: “You pat him on the back and say congratulations and enjoy it and tell him not serve fried chicken next year. Got it? Or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve."

Like Garcia, Zoeller apologised, claiming his remarks had been misconstrued. But the stain lingers 15 years later.

Expect the first frost of the season to hit cold and to settle in hard on the first tee at Conway Farms, just before noon Saturday.

Note: Alas, the pairing was uneventful.

There were no dust-ups between the two. They shook hands on the first tee and said "Play well" to each other. Throughout the round both players acknowledged the other's good shots. But there was no other banter before they shook hands on the 18th green.

Nothing but frosty banalities.