What led to the Tiger Woods-Sergio Garcia blow-up and the fried chicken disaster

We use the word "feud" instead of "rivalry" for this post because the actual career numbers for Tiger and Sergio aren't remotely in the same ballpark, and they get even worse for the perennial underdog when you consider those tournaments where they were paired together. The competitive clashes between the two aren't especially interesting, except in the context of their shared loathing.

But when you throw in that incendiary ingredient, everything becomes riveting, including the competition. In 2013, Sergio took offense to an alleged distraction by Tiger when paired with him in the third round of the Players Championship. A day later, he dunked two balls into the water on 17 as Tiger stormed to the title. Two weeks after that, at a gala awards dinner in Europe, Sergio was jokingly asked whether he might have Tiger over for dinner at the U.S. Open, and he unleashed the quip that would roil the entire sports world: Yes, he said, "we will serve fried chicken."

These two weeks defined the latter stages of their 15-year feud, and are emblematic of their dynamic—Sergio aggrieved, bumbling, Tiger annoyed to be dragged into the mix but ultimately victorious. On this week's Local Knowledge, we finish our two-part series on Tiger and Sergio with an in-depth look at everything the mid-2000s onward, but with a particular focus on this last great conflagration. Listen below, or wherever you get your podcasts.