Golfer Steve Elkington revealed he was suspended two weeks and fined $10,000 by the PGA last year for a tweet mocking Michael Sam at the 2014 NFL Combine: "ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine….No one else expected to throw today."
Elkington revealed the punishment in an article in Golf Magazine where he sounded less than repentant.
Q: You've come under fire for some of your remarks on Twitter. In 2013, you incited controversy after using a word that's derogatory toward Pakistanis. In 2014, you posted what many interpreted to be a homophobic joke about the gay football player Michael Sam. There are other examples. Do you regret any of the tweets?A: I don't know. You can't win either way. Everyone wants to keep picking on me about Twitter, but they don't want to pick on other people. They don't want to pick on Kelly Tilghman, about what she said about Tiger. [Note: In 2008, Tilghman said during a Golf Channel telecast that young players who wanted to challenge Woods should "lynch him in a back alley."] They don't keep picking on Tripp Isenhour because he killed an eagle. [Note: Isenhour killed a hawk with a golf ball in 2007.] But they want to keep picking on me for something that I got fined for and suspended. I've served my sentence.
Q: But those two examples were one-off incidents. Your critics would argue that you're a repeat offender.
A: Yes, but there's two sides to every one of [the tweets]. In the circles I go in, we [joke around on Twitter] all the time with one another. I'm not saying I'm not responsible for my tweets, but a lot of people are tired of all the political correctness.
Elkington, 52 and from Australia, is a real moron who nonetheless thinks he's funny. Early this year, he tweeted this about Caitlyn Jenner before she changed her name from Bruce: "He was on the wheaties box, now on fruitloop box."
Good for the PGA for suspending him, though given his track record, I am certain he will be tweeting something offensive any day now.
