Australian professional golfer Steve Elkington has made a combined $16 million in his career on the PGA and Champions Tours. If you type in “Steve Elkington r,” the second result on Google is “Steve Elkington racist.” That’s due to two tweets referencing “Pakkis” and a “Pakistani robber guy” back in July.
It appears Elkington hasn’t learned his lesson, as he took to Twitter to air his grievances over Michael Sam, presumably because Sam is gay and Elk’s intolerance knows no bounds.
ESPN covering Michael Sam as a gay athlete is embarrassing …..
— Steve Elkington (@elkpga) February 25, 2014
Without context, an Elkington apologist could write off that tweet as a response to ESPN sensationalizing Sam’s story. After all, Sam himself said, “I just wish you guys would just see me as Michael Sam the football player instead of Michael Sam the gay football player.” Maybe Elkington just wants the world to see all athletes treated as equals, without having to face judgment, scorn or cheap insults due to their sexual orientation.
Hmmm … probably not.
ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine…. No one else expected to throw today
— Steve Elkington (@elkpga) February 25, 2014
Seeing as Sam could probably throw Elkington’s golf bag (or Elkington himself) a fairly long distance, it’s a good thing for this aging golfer that he’ll probably never run into the 2013 SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Then again, Sam seems like the kind of guy who’d want to talk things out with Elkington. Not that Elk would listen.
Why are we posting a story about this on BASG? Because when I heard this dolt’s name it sounded very familiar, far more so than your average 51-year-old golfer who won one major (the 1995 PGA Championship). That’s because Elkington has been a guest on KNBR several times with either Tom Tolbert or Murph and Mac, probably because he’s a loose cannon who’ll say just about anything that crosses his mind, whether he’s drunk or sober.
Speaking of drunk-tweeting, just over a week ago, Deadspin captured this exchange:
@StephanieWei @gfore @JennaAtwood who’s the short one with no cans ?
— Steve Elkington (@elkpga) February 16, 2014
@StephanieWei @gfore @JennaAtwood sorry … I’ve been drinking
— Steve Elkington (@elkpga) February 16, 2014
Maybe Elk should attach an interlock device to his phone, tablet and/or computer that doesn’t allow him to tweet once his blood-alcohol level gets past a certain point. When you’re racist, sexist and homophobic, booze and Twitter can be a very dangerous combination.
