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Fuzzy Zoeller says his ‘fried chicken’ comment to Tiger during ’97 Masters was joke gone awry

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Ed Carpenter, right, responds to a question as Fuzzy Zoeller listens during a media interview for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Thursday, May 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

INDIANAPOLIS – Fuzzy Zoeller says he’s “paid his dues” after his infamous remarks about Tiger Woods ordering fried chicken for the Masters champions dinner, and believes similar comments made by Sergio Garcia will eventually blow over.

Garcia apologized to Woods after saying at a recent awards dinner in London that he would serve fried chicken if the two rivals had dinner at the U.S. Open. The stereotype of simple-minded blacks as being obsessed with chicken and watermelon dates back more than a century.

Zoeller has always maintained his comments were “misconstrued” when he said during Woods’ 1997 romp to the green jacket that he hoped fried chicken wouldn’t be served at the next year’s dinner. He said Thursday that “mine was a joke that went bad.”

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