Mike Cormack

Ian Poulter.

Ian Poulter and Dan Jenkins recently provided us with a cautionary tale in Tweeting 101.

Ian Poulter is 34. Dan Jenkins is 80.

The former is the No. 6 ranked golfer in the world while the latter is an award-winning sports writer for Golf Digest, and before that, Sports Illustrated.

They probably shared little else in common other than a love of golf before they each created minor stirs last week with racially-insensitive posts on their Twitter accounts.

Poulter (ianjamespoulter) is an extrovert on the golf course and online. His Twitter page is as loud and as bold as his trademark trousers, and he frequently updates his almost one million followers with behind-the-scenes videos and pictures, thoughts on his beloved Arsenal and Orlando Magic and yes, what he ate for dinner.

We count ourselves amongst those following him, but on April 15th it appeared Poulter had put his smartphone in his mouth when we came across the following Tweet:

“Didn't mean to offend anybody with my football tweet last night,” he wrote. “Very sorry if I did. I am not racial in any way.”

The soccer-related post from the previous day (which had since been removed by Poulter, but cached elsewhere) was referring to Arsenal’s loss the previous day in English Premier League soccer at the hands of cross-London rival, Tottenham.

“Not talking football after being beaten by the yids, I’m at the basketball with my son Luke, magic cruising.”

The slur has been associated with Tottenham due its popularity amongst London’s Jewish residents. As a way of countering the designation in recent years, many of its Tottenham’s supporters -- Jewish or otherwise -- now identify themselves as the “Yid Army.”

Regardless of the intent -- or how popular a reference it might be in the pubs of London -- the immediate backlash was a swift reminder to Poulter that his 981,334 followers are 981,334 opportunities to offend someone.

While Poulter was quick to apologize for his slip and avoided any further repercussions, the same can’t be said for Jenkins.

His ordeal began on April 11th during the final round of the Masters when he Tweeted:

“Y.E. Yang is only three shots off the lead,” he wrote. “I think we got takeout from him last night.”

Yang, the current PGA Champion and a fellow Tweeter, expressed his disappointment the following day from China, where he was set to take part in the China Open that week.

“Nice job Mr. Jenkins,” Yang wrote. “By the way, I am in China right now. there are a lot of people here. around 1.5 billion.”

That same day, Jenkins’ current employer, Golf Digest -- whose brand adorns Jenkins’ Twitter account -- issued the following apology, from its editor-in-chief.

But that must not have been enough to put out the fire, however, because six days later on April 17th, another apology appeared, this time from Jenkins himself.

“Anyone who has read me over the years recognizes that satire and poking fun have been an essential part of my writing,” wrote Jenkins. “I've been an equal opportunity fun-poker. But I realize in this case that I made a hasty attempt at humor and unfortunately crossed the line of good taste and hurt people who I respect. To Y. E. Yang and the Asian community, I want to apologize sincerely and ask them to forgive my mistake."

By waiting six days to apologize, Jenkins showed he either didn’t recognize the gravity of the situation he had created for himself and his employer, or he didn’t care.

Both scenarios are problematic.

Jenkins has won numerous awards and authored several books, but perhaps it’s worth pointing out that for the majority of his career, like most journalists, he has had the luxury of relying on copy editors and proof readers to catch any mistakes, or ill-advised attempts at humour, before publication.

But on a Masters Sunday when seemingly the entire golf-writing world was on Twitter churning out swing-by-swing accounts of the final round, Jenkins provided a stark reminder to anyone else in the public eye that it only takes 140-characters to add an asterisk to 50 years of award-winning work.

At the time of writing, Poulter continues to churn out the Tweets, but Jenkins has been M.I.A.

There was something awfully cool about an 80-year-old, legendary sportswriter embracing Twitter so enthusiastically at the Masters and it would be a shame if the incident turned him off the technology.

We have no doubt some of Jenkins’ younger colleagues must have raised an eyebrow when he joined, but the rare insights the likes of he and Poulter are capable of providing are why golf fans are more informed and feel better connected to the game than ever before.

So here’s hoping Jenkins' Twitter account doesn’t become a casualty of the past two weeks, but merely a cautionary tale.

Other news and notes:

-- The New York Times updates us on Ken Green, who will play in a Champions Tour event 10 months after the car accident that killed his brother and girlfriend and led to the amputation of his right leg below the knee.

-- Looking for a new golf app for your iPhone? Paul Azinger has teamed up with Shotzoom Software to create the Golfplan with Paul Azinger

-- Like, the Hockey Hall of Fame, The World Golf Hall of Fame is guilty of allowing too many players in -- that’s a blog for another day -- and now Ron Sirak reports there’s a movement afoot to change the induction date or move the event to New York to gain more media attention.

-- Speaking of Halls of Fame, if there were one for golf writers, John Feinstein would go in on the first ballot. In this post-Masters column , he wonders when Sergio Garcia will win something that matters and start acting his age.