At least four people were killed, cars burned, mobs rioted, and death threats were issued following the publication of a religious image deemed offensive… No wait, I’m thinking of the wrong cartoon controversy.

Sorry, let me start over. Several people complained after an image of Lorena Ochoa appeared superimposed over the Virgin Mary in a Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine article last week.

The image was removed from their Web site and Editor Jon Rizzi immediately issued an apology. “To illustrate our support of her, we selected an iconic image that suggested her transcendent qualities,” said Rizzi. “We never intended to insult anyone.”

Seeing as how this incident followed so closely on the heels of the infamous Kelly Tilghman “lynch him in a back alley” remark and the firing of Golfweek editor Dave Seanor, damage control was probably the pragmatic call. Speech might be free in this country, but sometimes it’ll cost you big.

The lesson to be learned: in golf, as in life, never publish anything that anyone at any time might be offended by. Oops—there goes Chris Baldwin’s blogging career!

Ochoa found herself at the center of controversy last week

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