"Colored" a bad word (Unless you are the NAACP)

George O’Grady, the European Tour’s chief executive, was forced to apologise here at the BMW PGA Championship on Thursday after he was accused by an anti-racism charity of making a remark on television that was “lazy and old fashioned” and with “offensive undertones”.

The Ulsterman, who has led the Tour for eight years and is one of the game’s most influential officials, appeared on Sky Sports to defend his Tour’s stance in not punishing Sergio García for directing a racist jibe at Tiger Woods. Instead, the controversy escalated several notches when O’Grady said “most of Sergio’s friends happen to be coloured athletes in the United States”.

With social media abuzz about the comment, O’Grady was obliged to emulate García and say sorry. “I deeply regret using an inappropriate word in a live interview for Sky Sports, for which I unreservedly apologise,” he said.

“Historically, the term ‘coloured’ has carried particularly negative connotations,” Kearns said. “It is certainly something we would like to see disappear – it is old-fashioned and lazy, but more importantly it has offensive undertones. Fifty or 60 years ago you could still see signs saying ‘no Irish, no coloureds, and no dogs’, and that is exactly the sort of thing we are trying to get away from.

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