The feud between Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods took another nasty turn when Garcia made a "fried chicken" joke about the #1 golfer in the world.

Garcia was attending the European Tour's Players' Awards dinner Tuesday evening in London when he made the offensive remark. Steve Sands of The Golf Channel, the emcee of the event, asked Garcia if he would ever invite Woods to dinner. Garcia then responded with a stereotype about African Americans.

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

The guests in attendance reportedly recoiled at Garcia's comments. The Daily Mail characterized one leading tour professional declaring to a reporter that, "You didn't hear that." Garcia offered a statement of apology that was obtained by The Associated Press as various media outlets began to report on his comments. He denied any charges of racism.

"I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during the European Tour Players' Awards dinner. 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."

Woods expressed hurt via Twitter over the comments. Woods tweeted to his followers that he hoped there was real regret over Garcia's comments.

"The comment that was made wasn't silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate," Woods tweeted.

Woods and Garcia have had a contentious relationship since before Garcia's fried chicken comment. On May 11, Garcia told reporters that a crowd for Woods distracted him when he was trying to take a shot at the Player's Championship. He said the cheers interrupted his swings. Garcia said that Woods instigated the cheering.

"I think he must have pulled like a 5-wood or a 3-wood and obviously everybody started screaming. So that didn't help very much," Garcia said.

Woods responded that Garcia was complaining and that the officials already cleared him of any wrongdoing. Woods also said that he and Garcia did not discuss the matter after the play was over.

"We didn't do a lot of talking," Woods said.

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