Justin Thomas’ sponsorship deal with Ralph Lauren has been terminated following his use of a homophobic slur last weekend.

The former PGA champion apologised for the offensive language he used during the Sentry Tournament of Champions but Ralph Lauren opted for termination, describing his failure as "entirely inconsistent with our values".

The Ralph Lauren Corporation did, however, leave the door open adding that they might renew the partnership, providing he "does the hard and necessary work" to promote inclusion.

"At the Ralph Lauren Corporation, we believe in the dignity of all people, regardless of age, race, gender identity, ethnicity, political affiliation or sexual orientation,” Ralph Lauren said in a statement.

"This is part of our longstanding commitment to foster cultures of belonging - in the workplace and in communities around the world.

"We are disheartened by Mr Thomas' recent language, which is entirely inconsistent with our values. While we acknowledge that he has apologised and recognises the severity of his words, he is a paid ambassador of our brand and his actions conflict with the inclusive culture that we strive to uphold.

"In reflecting on the responsibility we have to all of our stakeholders, we have decided to discontinue our sponsorship of Mr Thomas at this time.

"As we make this decision, our hope is that Mr. Thomas does the hard and necessary work in order to partner with us again - truly examining this incident, learning, growing and ultimately using his platform to promote inclusion."

Thomas' slur was picked up by a greenside microphone as he berated himself for missing a short putt on the fourth green.

“There's just no excuse,” he said when asked about the incident. “There's absolutely no reason for me to say anything like that. It's terrible. It's not the kind of person that I am.

"I need to do better. I deeply apologise to anyone and everybody who I offended and I'll be better because of it."

Thomas is back in action next week in Abu Dhabi, where he joins Rory McIlroy as the headline star in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

Meanwhile, David Feherty’s chat show “Feherty” will end after 10 years and nearly 150 episodes

The Bangor man confirmed to Golf Digest that his Emmy-nominated Golf Channel series has not been renewed.

“He remains on the NBC/Golf Channel tournament broadcast team after agreeing to a three-year deal in December that will take him to age 65.
Feherty said he learned in the spring that his show was ending—not long after golf’s COVID-19 shutdown and just weeks after Golf Channel informed staff that it intended to move its operations from Orlando to Stamford, Conn., where headquarters for NBC Sports Group is located.
“I don’t know what the reasons were for the decision. I think it was a combination of things,” Feherty said via telephone from his home in Dallas. “We haven’t been able to shoot any episodes because of COVID. The Golf Channel move. I don’t know. Maybe it was just time.
“I think a lot of people are going to be surprised that it got canceled. It always sort of amazed me the [number of] people that watched. Ten years is a whole lot more than I thought I would do. I loved doing it.”

The last episode featured Open champion Shane Lowry.

“It was kind of nice the way it turned out,” he said. “I didn’t know it was the last show, so there were no goodbyes, but that was a great way to end it. Shane was fun. It was a good show.”

Feherty will continue to work for NBC/Golf Channel as a commentator having signed a new three-year deal in December.

“I’m sad that it’s gone, but I’m glad that it ended on a decent note,” Feherty said. “We tried to do something new in talk TV. I’m glad it didn’t just start fading away and wasn’t relevant anymore. We had a 10-year run. I can’t believe it lasted that long. In television that’s a long time. And it just flew by.”

Feherty’s media career has not been without controversy.

in 2009 he apologised to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for a joke in a Dallas magazine.

He was one of five Dallas residents who wrote for D Magazine on former President George W. Bush moving to Dallas.

“From my own experience visiting the troops in the Middle East, I can tell you this though, Feherty wrote toward the end of his column. Despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, theres a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death.

Feherty, who created a foundation to help wounded soldiers, was taken to task by CBS and the PGA Tour and apologised.

“This passage was a metaphor meant to describe how American troops felt about our 43rd president,” Feherty said in a statement.

“In retrospect, it was inappropriate and unacceptable, and has clearly insulted Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid, and for that, I apologise. As for our troops, they know I will continue to do as much as I can for them both at home and abroad.”