Why golf must tackle racism head on

YOU might have thought after eight years in Tiger Woods’s bubble that Steve Williams would understand the value of choosing your words carefully.

Apparently not. That Williams is a rude, self-aggrandising bully has been popular knowledge for some time – now we know he is also a bigot.

Spare us the Ron Atkinson defence here – when the football pundit described Marcel Desailly as a ‘lazy nigger’ he spectacularly missed the point by explaining he didn’t realise he was on air at the time – because it matters not who Williams was speaking to when he made his “black ar**hole” comments.

Williams has unwittingly brought into a focus a huge issue; golf’s attitudes to race and colour. 

Though certain golf authorities may not like it becoming a talking point, the sport has an uncomfortable history in this area. 

It was 1975 before a black man, Lee Elder, played in the Masters and despite the domination of the game by Woods, coloured players are still under-represented on the PGA and European Tours.

While Williams should hardly be a sufficiently important figure to stimulate global debate (the game would be none the poorer were he never seen on a course again), the worse thing that could happen would be for his comments to be ignored and the issue to be swept under the carpet.

I have sympathy for players who do not wish to be drawn into a controversy not of their making, but an issue such as this surely offers the rare chance for a united front – to show both the golfing and wider worlds that the game is open to all. 

I hope the governing bodies set an example and all those in the game with any influence follow suit.