Steve Elkington probably should stay off Twitter for a while.

The veteran golfer is an active tweeter. However, he did one tweet too many when it came to Michael Sam at last week’s NFL Combine.

When Elkington started feeling the intense heat, he followed up by saying he was making a point about ESPN’s excessive coverage of Sam.

Right.

Even if that was Elkington’s intent, it was an incredibly poor way to do it.

Jason Sobel of GolfChannel.com had this to say about Elkington in a column:

I don’t know Steve Elkington personally. His long run of relevance as an elite professional golfer was dying down by the time I started covering the beat in 2004, so other than maybe a couple of long-forgotten news conference questions and recalling that he owned a beautiful swing and an ugly wardrobe, I really don’t know the man.

But therein lies the beauty – and, sometimes, ugliness – of social media.

Through outlets like Twitter, we are able to get to know people whom we otherwise wouldn’t. Unfiltered, unvarnished thoughts straight from the source. When it comes to golfers, many have employed social media as a tool to bring thousands of fans inside the ropes with them. I’ve learned that Ian Poulter has a sports-car fetish, Zach Johnson loves barbeque and Luke Donald has a much better sense of humor than what comes across in interviews.

I’ve also learned that Elkington is hateful, classless and in desperate need of attention.

Bob Harig of ESPN.com reports this isn’t the first time Elkington has come under fire for tweets.

Last year, Elkington came under criticism for Twitter comments made in the aftermath of a helicopter crash into a Glasgow pub.

“Helicopter crashes into Scottish pub. .. locals report no beer was spilt,” Elkington tweeted about the crash.

The accident resulted in several deaths.

Last summer, while playing in the British Senior Open in Southport, England, Elkington tweeted: “Things about Southport … fat tattooed guy, fat tattooed girl, trash, Pakistani robber guy, s**t food.”

He then later tried to explain by tweeting: “Couple caddies got rolled by some Pakkis, bad night for them.”

In the United Kingdom, to refer to someone from Pakistan as a “Pakki” is considered a racial slur. Elkington later apologized and was reprimanded by the European Tour.

Yep, time to take a break from Twitter, Steve.