PGA Tour pro Scott Piercy apologises for homophobic meme

PGA Tour pro Scott Piercy has taken to Instagram to apologise for his anti-gay slur and reference to a right-wing conspiracy theory.

While now taken down, Piercy shared a homophobic meme on his Instagram account on Monday that was directed at former South Bend mayor and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. 

With Buttigieg suspending his campaign over the weekend, Piercy's meme highlighted the news and Buttigieg's sexuality as a gay man.

According to Golf Digest, the four-time PGA Tour winner also "posted a message about QAnon, which is a far-right conspiracy theory involving a secret ploy by a 'deep state' against the government, one that accuses its critics of child sex trafficking."

Despite Piercy's representatives not reaching out for comment with the media, Piercy did apologise for his post with the following:

"Whenever i (sic) post my intent is NEVER to offend. I want to apologize if any of my recents (sic) story posts have been offensive," wrote Piercy. "I will do better!"

The PGA Tour said: "We were made aware of Scott’s post and are disappointed in the lack of judgement used."

Piercy tees up in this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill off the back of three solid performances on the PGA Tour. 

He finished tied sixth at the Phoenix Open before ending up tied 18th at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and tied 17th at the Genesis Invitational.

Piercy, who ranks 94th in the world, has made 298 career starts on the PGA Tour and has amassed more than $20 million in career earnings.