Asked jokingly by the awards presenter whether he would be inviting Tiger Woods round for dinner at the US Open next month, the Spaniard answered: “Every night – and serving him fried chicken.”  The comment was slammed for its racial overtones since fried chicken is a food stereotypically associated with African Americans.

The incident made sporting headlines around the world, leading Garcia to issue a humble and heartfelt apology: “I say I am truly sorry and that I feel sick about it. My answer was stupid and out of place and I can’t say sorry enough about that. I wasn’t able to sleep at all last night. I wish I didn’t do it but the only thing I can do is apologize.”

Garcia’s main sponsor TaylorMade is watching the situation closely and has said in no uncertain terms that if the furor continues too long in the media, it will pull out of its GBP 5 million sponsorship deal with the golfer.

“Sergio Garcia’s comment was offensive and in no way aligns with our values and corporate culture,” read a statement issued by TaylorMade. “We discussed with Sergio that his comments are clearly out of bounds and we are continuing to review the matter.”

The world’s number 1, Tiger Woods’ comments on the matter were as follows: ”The comment that was made wasn’t silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate. I am confident there was real regret that the remark was made.”

The Spanish player grew mad when Tiger Woods pulled a club out of his bag just as he was about to take an important shot, causing a “ripple of excitement” from the watching crowd.  Garcia claims that he lost concentration and his hopes to advance in the Players Championship were dashed in that infamous 17th hole.

A frustrated Garcia later told reporters that Tiger Woods lacked respect for other players and that he “isn’t the nicest guy on tour.”

The following day, Garcia continued on his rant when he told another media source: “I have not spoken and I don’t really have any plans to contact him. Obviously he is not going to say sorry, which I can understand coming from him. It wasn’t my fault. I am not the one who should go to him. I don’t care who he is. It doesn’t matter if it is Tiger Woods or Luke Donald, who is my best friend on tour. If I have done something wrong I will go up and say, “Sorry, I hope it is OK and that we can move on. But if I am not the one who did the thing then I am not going to go up and say, “Sorry for you doing that thing to me”. That’s nonsense.”

In the meantime, professional golfers are now eyeing the next big tournament on the circuit, the US Open to be held at Pennsylvania’s Merion Golf Club from June 10th – 16th. Tiger Woods is the massive favorite to win the title, which was captured by Webb Simpson last year and Rory McIlroy the year before.

If you ask Sir Alex Ferguson, the retiring manager of Manchester United where Beckham played for many years, his former protegee will make a name for himself in the fashion world. ”In terms of talking about longevity and in many ways reinventing himself, he has done incredibly,”’ said Ferguson. “He had the best stamina in the club. He could run all day and that has allowed him to stay in the game, at that kind of level, playing for his country in his mid-thirties. To come from America and do that is quite amazing and he is an amazing person. He has picked the right time, won the league with PS-G and is the exactly the same as myself, he has plenty of things to do. He is a young man, fashion will be his role I would imagine but he will have plenty to do.”

While Sir Alex’s idea makes sense, Beckham may be remaining in the world of football after all.  The Guardian reported that Beckham’s advisers are in talks with US Major League Soccer that the player could return to the United States as the owner of a new club.  Beckham’s contract with Major League Soccer included an option for him to purchase an ‘expansion franchise’, essentially buying one of the MLS’s 19 teams for under $25 million.  The clause expressly rules out New York as a possible location.

Last year, Beckham said “I have the option of owning a franchise, and that excites me.”

There is no doubt that David Beckham will continue to build on Brand Beckham, made up also by his wife, Victoria – a former Spice Girls and an accomplished fashion designer in her own right – and his four children. It is believed that Beckham’s future will consist of three distinct routes: ambassadorial and charity work; football club ownership; and fashion and media entrepreneurship.

During his match in Rome against Marcel Gronollers on Wednesday, Murray was forced to withdraw before the end – only the second time in his prestigious career that he has done so.

In a statement soon after his retirement in Rome, Murray said:

Organizers of the French Open made the decision following an announcement by the Association of Tennis Professionals to suspend Tomic’s father indefinitely, following allegations made by Drouet that he bullied his son during training sessions.

“Following last week’s incident in Madrid concerning John Tomic, and the ensuing investigation, Mr Tomic’s credential privileges have been suspended at all ATP tournaments until further notice,” said the ATP in a statement. “The ATP’s investigation into this incident remains ongoing.”

According to Drouet, Tomic snr punched his son in the mouth during a recent practice session in Monte Carlo until he was bleeding from the mouth.  ”All that because Bernard had told him that he had had enough of hearing his criticisms,” recalled Drouet. “I didn’t intervene as I have read I did other places. Afterward, John took Bernard’s three racquets and destroyed them. Bam. Bam. Bam. A half-hour later, he was joking with Bernard.”

The Director of the Grand Slam Committee, Bill Babcock left it up to the organizers of each tournament to decide whether or not to allow Tomic snr to attend the tournaments, and last night the French Open team made its decision.  It is expected that he will not be allowed to attend Wimbledon either, although it is believed that by the time the US Open comes around in August, a ruling by the ATP will already have been made.

The French Open opens at Roland Garros, Paris on May 26th.

“So, what was the point of dressing Vladimir Tarasenko again?” wrote sports commentator, Allen Muir. “The dazzling winger barely got the spoon in his mouth for his first taste of playoff hockey before Hitchcock yanked it away and sat him down. He was given just one shift in the second period, and only two in the third after the Kings had taken the lead. No one should be surprised that Hitch doesn’t trust a rookie in a tight game, but if you’re not going to use him to create offense when it’s needed the most, why is he in the lineup at all?”

The close loss – especially since the Blues were up 3-1 at the beginning of the match – must have been an anti-climax for the 21 year old who has had nothing but ups and downs since  coming to America last June to play for the Blues. Soon after his arrival, NHL went into lockout mode and Tarasenko packed up and left back to play for St. Petersburg SKA until lockout ended in January. After his return, tThe player put in a dazzling debut performance, contributing twice to a 6-0 victory over Detroit on opening night.

However, things started going downhill after Tarasenko suffered his second concussion and was put on injured reserve for over a month.

Before the Blues vs LA Kings match, Tarasenko was told he’d be playing and he was quoted as saying: “I’m very excited. I love playing with these guys. I’m ready.”

But it was a disheartening NHL Playoff for Tarasenko with his limited time on the ice and the subsequent loss by his team.

The boots are a limited edition evoSPEED 1.2 CAMO which are due to be unveiled officially later in May, although Puma has been teasing consumers with a sneak look at the shoe by putting it on the feet of top players such as Sergio Aguero.

According to the shoe company, which has used the logo, “Blink and they’ll be gone” the new pink dotted books have a “new speedtrack outsole” which “improves turning and reactivity.”  The shoe also includes a new monolayer microfiber which covers the entire boots so that the player’s touch and feel of the ball is enhanced.

Puma has only made 200 pairs of the shoe, and has used top athletes to showcase the boots for the company, including Aguero and Atletico Madrid star Radamel Falcao.

The pink shoes have managed to garner an incredible amount attention ahead of the FA Cup Final, considering that they are only shoes…  The article has been run in multiple media sources, and the talk backs on the subject have been quite amusing to say the least.

A reader from Norwich wrote to the Daily Mail: “hideous things them, aguero needs to give his head a wobble”, while another reader from Manchester wrote: “Pink, girly and embarrassing just like the way City play football and conduct themselves as a club!!!”

Manchester City meets Wigan at Wembley Stadium on May 11th at 5.15 pm local time.

Governor Charlie has been nursing a foot bruise and his trainer Bob Baffert and Pegram deemed him  fit enough to run the race. However, because he hasn’t had enough time to practice ahead of the Kentucky Derby which kicks off at Churchill Downs this Saturday, Pegram opted to let him build up momentum for the Preakness Stakes on May 18th instead.

“It’s kind of disappointing. It’s the second year in a row we thought we’d be in the race,” said Pegram about his decision to pull out of the Kentucky Derby.

The decision was especially difficult considering that Pegram already knows how it feels to win the Derby.  His horse, Real Quiet, came in first at the finishing line in 1998, before taking the Preakness title in the same year.  Pegram’s Lookin at Lucky won the Preakness Stakes in 2010.

This is the first time that Hall of Fame trainer Baffert will not take part in the Kentucky Derby in five years.  Speaking about the decision regarding Governor Charlie, the three times Kentucky Derby winner Baffert said: ”I’m going to wait. I sat down with Mike and we said let’s not push it and get him right. There are other races. It’s tough to miss it, but if you don’t think you can run 1-2-3, I just don’t want to run. I know there have been some longshots (that have been winners), but I didn’t feel it. You have to feel it. I didn’t feel that we were going to be competitive. That’s why we passed on it.”

Interestingly, extreme sports is not the only sport that Pastrana excels in. The 29 year old is carving out an incredible career for himself in NASCAR racing, and has made significant progress over the last year.   Despite a motorcycle stunt injury, Pastrana went on to make a Nationwide Series entry, controversial in itself since he did not even record a top twenty in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competition.

Yet, despite his inexperience, Pastrana has – with the help of championship owner Jack Roush – found himself thirteenth in points.  Pastrana finished in the top ten in Daytona and Richmond, considered among the most difficult tracks on the series tour.

Many believed that Pastrana’s entry into NASCAR would fizzle out after the first year, but it seems like the multi-talented athlete is here to stay.  His sponsors also believe in Pastrana’s abilities and he has managed to earn the backing of some of the biggest names in the business, including Red Bull and DC Shoes.

Fans of extreme sports, in the meantime, can check out the action at the X Games in Barcelona from May 9th – 12th. Other big names that have confirmed their attendance include Nate Adams, Bob Burnquist and Jamie Bestwick.

Two new big events have been added to the Barcelona tournament, namely Women’s Skateboard Park and the Real Women Bracket which will include eight females from different disciplines – snowboarding, skateboarding, skiing and surfing.

Krigger’s personal tale is a rags to riches one.  Born on the tiny island of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, his love for horses began at an early age. ”In the Virgin Islands, horses are pets, like dogs or cats in the U.S.,” recalled Krigger about himself as a five year old “Our neighbors didn’t know I’d be taking theirs for a ride. My great-grandfather saw me fly past him and couldn’t believe it.”  By the age of 10, he owned his own mare and he dreamed of one day taking part in the Kentucky Derby.  During his teen years, Krigger walked two hours each way to the only race track on the island and came to the US as a 17 year old, travelling from track to track hoping to attract the attention of an agent or trainer.

Struggling to keep his weight down to qualify as a jockey in his five-foot-six category and nursing a fractured spine from a fall in 2007 has not seen Krigger let go of his dream, and he’ll have his spot in the limelight on May 4th when he rides one of the early top ten favorites, Goldencents at Churchill Downs.

Krigger prefers to play down the race issue.  ”I’m glad as an African-American jockey to be in this position after so long,” he said. “But that’s not what’s going to decide the race.”