Some people need to realize the internet is not like Las Vegas. What happens on the internet stays on the internet whether you delete it or not.
Apparently professional golfer Steve Elkington didn’t get that memo.
On Tuesday the Australian golfer made remarks about Michael Sam, the Missouri defensive end who recently came out as gay before entering the NFL combine.
Though Elkington may have deleted his tweets, others were able to capture them before he wised up and deleted them.
His first tweet was, “ESPN covering Michael Sam as a gay athlete is embarrassing …..” Elkington continued with, “ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine…. No one else expected to throw today.”
When Elkington started to get some flack from others on Twitter, he responded by saying, “I’m for Sam I’m against ESPN telling me he’s gay….”
Even though Elkington deleted his original tweets, he did try to tweet out an explanation.
It goes back to "a ball hit an oriental spectator".There's no oriental spectators..There just spectators.."like m Sam…He's just an athlete
— Steve Elkington (@elkpga) February 25, 2014
He also explained to Shane Bacon, editor of Yahoo’s Devil Ball Golf and Busted Racquet blogs, why he actually deleted his controversial tweets.
I reached out to Steve Elkington about the controversial tweets he deleted. He told me, “tour asked me to.”
— Shane Bacon (@shanebacon) February 25, 2014
Bacon also tweeted out the response from the PGA Tour, “Under our regulations, conduct unbecoming a professional includes public commentary that is clearly inappropriate or offensive. With respect to this matter, and consistent with our longstanding policy, we do not comment on player disciplinary matters.”
This isn’t the first time Elkington has turned to Twitter to make disparaging comments. During the Senior British Open last summer, the European Tour reprimanded Elkington after he tweeted that “couple caddies got rolled by some Pakkis, bad night for them.” Apparently Elkington didn’t realize that “Pakki” was a derogatory term in Britain. He also explained that he made the comment “out of frustration stemming from what had happened to a colleague.”
You can watch the video below to see Keith Olbermann explain why Elkington is the world’s worst person in sports (at least for right now).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b3BdtV0Q_8
Image via Steve Elkington, Twitter.