Death of George Floyd: Tiger Woods speaks in turn ...

With AFP,

He was one of the last big stars of the sport, all competitions combined, not to have yet commented on the death of George Floyd, which occurred last May 25, in Minneapolis (Minnesota). A 46-year-old African American victim of homicide by a white police officer. His silence had not gone unnoticed in the media of the country, who wondered when the greatest golfer of the last thirty years would finally speak. Since Monday June 1st, it is now done…

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The last winner of the Masters in April 2019 called this terrible event which has since embraced the largest cities in the United States a "shocking tragedy" but stressed however that violent protests were not the solution.

“I have always had the utmost respect for our police. They train so diligently to understand how, when and where to use force. This shocking tragedy clearly crossed that line, "wrote the American golfer in a statement posted on his Twitter account .

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This statement follows comments from several other sportsmen and ex-sportsmen, including NBA legend Michael Jordan, who said he was "angry", and tennis player Coco Gauff, who asked, "Am I next? "

"My thoughts are with George Floyd, his family and all of us who are currently suffering," added the Tiger, who compared the situation to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. They started after the acquittal of four white police accused of beating a black motorist, Rodney King, after a chase.

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"I remember the riots in Los Angeles and learned that education is the best way to go," said Woods, a fifteen-time Grand Slam winner. We can assert our points of view without setting fire to the neighborhoods in which we live. I hope that through honest and constructive conversations we can build a safer and more united society, ”he concluded.

Tiger Woods, the son of an African American and a Thai woman, has never hidden his fascination with military or para-military stories. In the 2000s, he had taken part in extensive training with the Navy Seals, a shock troop of the US army. Like many American golfers, he also does not hide his sympathy for Donald Trump, himself a distinguished golfer (he would display an index of 3) and owner of around twenty courses in the world. The two men have shared friendly rounds of golf on several occasions, even though Woods had done the same with Barack Obama, Trump's predecessor in the White House. On May 6, 2019, just a few weeks after his triumph at Augusta, he had been awarded by Donald Trump the Medal of Liberty, the highest civil honor in the United States of America.