Golf Channel suspends Tilghman

2008-01-09

Share this article:  Digg |  StumbleUpon |  del.icio.us |  Reddit

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (TICKER) -- The Golf Channel on Wednesday suspended anchor Kelly Tilghman two weeks for her remarks during last week's Mercedes-Benz Championship.

In an exchange with analyst Nick Faldo on Friday, Tilghman said that young players who wanted to challenge Tiger Woods should "lynch him in a back alley."

The network announced the suspension Wednesday but did not reveal who will take Tilghman's place in the booth at this week's Sony Open or next week at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.
"The Golf Channel regrets the poorly chosen remarks made by Kelly Tilghman on a recent broadcast and, again, extends our apologies to anyone who was offended," the network said in a statement. "There is simply no place on our network for offensive language like this.

"While we believe that Kelly's choice of words were inadvertent and that she did not intend them in an offensive manner, the words were hurtful and grossly inappropriate."

Woods' camp did not appeared overly concerned about the comments, and his agent, Mark Steinberg, issued a statement that attempted to end the story before it became a distraction.

"This story is a non-issue. Tiger and Kelly are friends, and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly," Steinberg said. "Regardless of the choice of words used, we know unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments. This story is a non-issue in our eyes. Case closed."

Tilghman issued an official statement Tuesday, indicating she did not mean to offend the public or Woods, who is half African-American and half Asian.

"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. "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."