Zoeller Disputes Accounts Of Remarks To Black Golfer

Fuzzy Zoeller tried to dispute accounts of his joking exchange with a black friend about fried chicken and watermelon, but the four reporters on the scene defended the accuracy of their stories Tuesday.

Zoeller took issue with reports filed by The Associated Press and three South Carolina newspapers following a conversation Monday between Zoeller and businessman Vic McBryde at the Thornblade Classic, a charity pro-am in Greenville.

The outing was Zoeller’s first since he referred to Tiger Woods as “that little boy” and said Woods shouldn’t serve fried chicken and collard greens at the Masters champions’ dinner next year.

Monday’s stories said that after McBryde initiated the conversation by yelling, “Hey, Fuzzy,” from two holes away, Zoeller shouted back a remark about getting McBryde “some fried chicken.” The stories said McBryde then told Zoeller not to forget the “corn bread” and that Zoeller replied, “How about some watermelon?”

Later Monday night Zoeller was quoted by CNN-SI reporter Nick Charles as saying “the AP account was not entirely accurate.”

Asked on Tuesday to clarify, Zoeller gave this account to the AP:

“He (McBryde) was on another fairway and yelled: ‘Hey Fuzzy, we’re having lunch later - fried chicken, collard greens and corn bread. You want to join us?’

“I yelled back: ‘Don’t forget the watermelon.’ That was all I said,” Zoeller said. “I’m not the one who said the first lines. I didn’t say that stuff, but I’m getting killed for it.”

However, the reporters on the scene stood by their stories.

“We heard Fuzzy say the fried chicken line,” sports writer Pete Iacobelli of the AP said.