Don Rea Jr, who was cricitized for his response to verbal abuse directed at European players during last year’s Ryder Cup, is out as president of the PGA of America, effective immediately.
Tuesday’s news came on the heels of the PGA of America’s board of directors suspending Rea for the remainder of his two-year term, which ends in November. PGA of America vice-president Nathan Charnes was named acting president.
Rea came under fire for failing to apologize amid a raucous New York crowd hurling personal insults at Rory McIlroy and his family during the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black last September. An MC at the event resigned after she led chants of “Fuck you, Rory” aimed at McIlroy; homophobic slurs were shouted at golfers; 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.
In an interview on the Sunday morning of the Cup, Rea dismissed the abuse as no worse than what’s 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, saying some fan behavior had “clearly crossed the line” and that it was “disrespectful, inappropriate, and not representative” of the organization.
Rea was also caught on video performing a karaoke version of Eminem’s Lose Yourself when the US trailed Europe by seven points. He 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.