Don Rea Jr, who faced criticism for his response to verbal abuse directed at European players during last year's Ryder Cup, has been removed as president of the PGA of America, effective immediately. The news came on Tuesday after the PGA of America's board of directors suspended Rea for the remainder of his two-year term, which ends in November. PGA of America vice-president Nathan Charnes has been named acting president.
Controversy at Bethpage Black
Rea came under fire for failing to apologize amid a raucous New York crowd that hurled personal insults at Rory McIlroy and his family during the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black last September. An MC at the event resigned after leading chants of "Fuck you, Rory" aimed at McIlroy; homophobic slurs were shouted at golfers; and players' wives were insulted. McIlroy said his wife, Erica, was hit by a beer that was thrown during play. At one point, he pushed back, telling a spectator to "shut the fuck up" during a foursomes match.
Rea's Dismissive Comments
In an interview on the Sunday morning of the Cup, Rea dismissed the abuse as no worse than what is said at "a youth soccer game" and said the behavior was distracting American players because they had to expend energy helping to control the crowd. "You've got 50,000 people here that are really excited, and heck, you could go to a youth soccer game and get some people who say the wrong things," he told the BBC.
A week later, Rea apologized to PGA of America members in an email, stating that some fan behavior had "clearly crossed the line" and was "disrespectful, inappropriate, and not representative" of the organization.
Additional Incidents
Rea was also caught on video performing a karaoke version of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" when the US trailed Europe by seven points. He further ruffled feathers at the end of the matches when he said Europe "retained" the Cup rather than won it outright during the trophy presentation.
Rea had been the president of the PGA of America since November 2024. In 2014, the organization removed Ted Bishop from his post as president after he called English golfer Ian Poulter a "lil girl" in a tweet.
