By Peter Carlson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 19, 2008

The formerly bucolic world of golf is in a tizzy these days over an unlikely subject -- lynching.

The racially charged controversy began with a slip of the tongue and has now resulted in the suspension of Golf Channel anchorwoman Kelly Tilghman and the firing yesterday of the editor of Golfweek magazine, Dave Seanor.

It began on Jan. 4, when Tilghman was chatting on-air with Golf Channel analyst Nick Faldo about up-and-coming challengers to superstar Tiger Woods, son of a black American father and an Asian mother, and the golfer who has dominated his sport for a decade.

"To take Tiger on," Faldo said, "maybe they should gang up for a while."

"Lynch him in a back alley," Tilghman replied, laughing.

Tilghman, a longtime friend of Woods who has been criticized for hugging him on-camera, apologized to the golfer both privately and on the air. Woods's agent, Mark Steinberg, reported that Woods was not upset. "Regardless of the choice of words used, we know unequivocally that there was no ill intent in her comments." Steinberg pronounced the matter over: "Case closed."

He was wrong about that. On CNN, Al Sharpton, the preacher, activist, radio host and former presidential candidate, called the comment "an insult to all blacks" and demanded that Tilghman be fired.

The Golf Channel declined to take Sharpton's advice but on January 9, it announced that it had suspended Tilghman for two weeks without pay. "While we believe that Kelly's choice of words was inadvertent and that she did not intend them in an offensive manner," the channel announced in a statement, "the words were hurtful and grossly inappropriate."

By then, the birdies-and-bogeys crowd was buzzing over the brouhaha, so Seanor, of Golfweek, ran a cover on the Jan. 19 issue depicting a noose along with the words: "Caught in a Noose: Tilghman slips up, and Golf Channel can't wriggle free."

The cover image kicked up more controversy. "We consider Golfweek's imagery of a swinging noose on its cover to be outrageous and irresponsible," PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem said in a statement.

Seanor told the Associated Press: "Do you put Kelly Tilghman out there? But was it so much about her or the uproar?"

Yesterday, Golfweek announced on its Web site that Seanor was no longer editor, and was replaced by Jeff Babineau, a former editor, deputy editor and senior writer.

"We apologize for creating this graphic cover that received extreme negative reaction from consumers, subscribers and advertisers across the country," said William P. Kupper Jr., the president of Golfweek's parent company, Turnstile Publishing. "We were trying to convey the controversial issue with a strong and provocative graphic image. It is now obvious that the overall reaction to our cover deeply offended many people. For that, we are deeply apologetic."

Neither Seanor, nor Babineau nor Kupper responded to calls seeking comment yesterday.