Zoeller, Woods Put Masters Controversy To Rest

Fuzzy Zoeller and Tiger Woods met for lunch Tuesday at the Colonial Country Club, the site of this week’s PGA Tour stop. Afterward, both men said they would just like to get on with the business of playing golf.

“Fuzzy and I had a nice lunch and a nice conversation,” Woods said in a news conference after he and Zoeller spoke for the first time since the final day of the Masters, when Zoeller made controversial, racially sensitive statements about Woods. “I found out some things I needed to know. Now it’s done, it’s over and hopefully we’ll have a good tournament this week.

“I think over time, we’ll see that it was an incident that was good for golf. It will take some time… . We had a nice time, I’m not going to get into any details.”

“It was a man-to-man talk,” Zoeller said. “I explained to him how it happened, and that I meant nothing by it… . In my mind, and Tiger’s mind, it’s over with.”

The two had not met or spoken since April 6, when Zoeller, in an interview in front of Augusta National’s clubhouse, called Woods “that little boy” and suggested that he not serve fried chicken and collard greens at next year’s Masters champions dinner. Woods won the Masters by 12 shots that day, becoming the first person of color to win one of golf’s four majors.