Kelly Tilghman, a Golf Channel anchor, said on a broadcast last week that the younger golfers on the PGA Tour should “lynch Tiger Woods in a back alley.” “There is simply no place on our network for offensive language like this,” Golf Channel said in a statement. On Wednesday, The Golf Channel reacted, suspending Tilghman for two weeks.
Tilghman drew criticism for remarks about Tiger Woods during a January 4, 2008 PGA Tour Telecast. In response to co-anchor Nick Faldo’s joke that younger players should “gang up” on Woods, Tilghman replied “Lynch him in a back alley”. Tilghman was laughing during the exchange with Faldo at the Mercedes-Benz Championship, and Woods’ agent at IMG was quoted as saying he didn’t think there was any ill intent. But the comments gained traction by the civil rights activist Al Sharpton. He demanding she be fired immediately. She apologized two days later for her remarks.
On January 9, it was announced that The Golf Channel had suspended Tilghman for two weeks as a result of her comment, a reversal of course from the channel’s earlier declaration that she would not be suspended. Woods and Tilghman have known each other 12 years. She was picked to host a club demonstration with Woods in south Florida when he talked about new products from Nike Golf. Tilghman was helped when Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent at IMG, said it was a non-issue and considered the matter “case closed.” Before her suspension was announced, Sharpton spoke earlier on CNN’s “Prime News” and continued to push for her firing, saying he wanted to meet with Golf Channel because the comment was “an insult to all blacks.”