Australian golfer Steve Elkington has tweeted what could be construed as a derogatory joke about American Football player Michael Sam.
Sam made history when he publicly came out earlier this month and would become the first ever openly gay player in the NFL should he be chosen in this year's Draft.
The 24-year-old was one of a host of NFL hopefuls to take part in the annual scouting combine this past weekend, and Elkington took to Twitter to poke fun at the defensive end.
"ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine.... No one else expected to throw today," Elkington wrote.
Earlier in the day, Elkington had blasted the media's coverage of the news, tweeting: "ESPN covering Michael Sam as a gay athlete is embarrassing ....."
Both tweets have since been deleted by the 51-year-old, who won the 1995 PGA Championship, beating Colin Montgomerie in a playoff.
Barney Corkhill
