*Golf Channel anchor Kelly Tilghman, the sport's first female play-by-play announcer, has been suspended by the network for joking that young players should "lynch [Tiger Woods] in a back alley" as a way to deal with his supremacy.
Earlier she had apologized for her comments.
"On Friday during our golf broadcast, Nick Faldo and I were discussing Tiger's dominance in the golf world and I used some poorly chosen words," Tilghman said in a statement. "I have known Tiger for 12 years and I have apologized directly to him. I also apologize to our viewers who may have been offended by my comments."
Apparently the apology was not enough, because late Wednesday, the network made their move to suspend her.
"While we believe that Kelly's choice of words was inadvertent and that she did not intend them in an offensive manner, the words were hurtful and grossly inappropriate," Golf Channel said in its statement. "Consequently, we have decided to suspend Kelly for two weeks, effective immediately."
Tilghman was helped when Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent, said it was a non-issue and considered the matter "case closed."
"Tiger and Kelly are friends, and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly," Steinberg said Tuesday night in a statement released by Golf Channel. "Regardless of the choice of words used, we know unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments."
This recent incident brings to memory the comments made by golfer Fuzzy Zoeller in 1997. After Woods won the Masters that year at age 21 to become its youngest champion, Zoeller referred to him as "that little boy," and suggested that Woods not serve fried chicken or collard greens, "or whatever the hell they serve," at the Champions Dinner.
Woods, who had a different management team in his first full season, did not respond for three days to Zoeller's apology, and it took Zoeller years to recover from the fallout.
Meanwhile, Tilghman's comments became prevalent on news shows Wednesday, and the Rev. Al Sharpton joined the fray by demanding she be fired immediately.
Golf Channel didn't know who would replace Tilghman in the booth this week at the Sony Open or next week at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
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