PGA of America President Shockingly Defends Fan Behavior at Ryder Cup

As more videos and spectator accounts surface in the aftermath of poor fan behavior at the Ryder Cup, the PGA of America’s president appears content to downplay the various incidents that were a major storyline over the weekend at Bethpage Black.

Don Rea, who is the volunteer president of the organization that represents club professionals across the country, has been criticized following an interview he gave the BBC over the weekend, when he attempted to diminish the vulgar abuse directed at several members of the European Ryder Cup team. He also stood by his views from a Wednesday LinkedIn post.

In the BBC Sport interview on Sunday, Rea was asked if he believed fan behavior crossed the line of decorum and he said: “Well, you’ve got 50,000 people here that are rally excited and, heck, you could go to a youth soccer game and get some people who say the wrong things.”

Among the “wrong things” was a Saturday first-tee chant organized by comedian Heather McMahan, who tried to get the spectators in the grandstand behind the first tee and 18th green to join in a chorus of “F— You, Rory,” as Rory McIlroy was about to tee off.

On Sunday McMahan stepped down from her role as emcee in the aftermath of the incident.

The PGA of America owns half of the Ryder Cup along with Ryder Cup Europe, and it’s in charge of administering and running the tournament when it is played in the United States. It also runs the PGA Championship.

Bethpage was awarded the 2024 Ryder Cup (delayed a year due to COVID-19 in 2020) and there were long fears that a New York-based Ryder Cup crowd might be a problem, especially after incidents at the three major championships played there.

McIlroy faced a gluttony of abuse throughout the Saturday four-ball session along with partner Shane Lowry. There were homophobic slurs and constant vulgar language, a good bit of which occurred as the players were about to swing or putt, causing them to back off.

Security was increased and there was a time when Lowry had to be restrained from going into the crowd. McIlroy’s wife, Erica, was also the subject of taunts and abuse and had a beer thrown on her.

“I was out there for two days with Erica McIlroy. The amount of abuse that she received was astonishing,” said Lowry, whose Sunday birdie on the 18th hole clinched the point that assured a tie and retaining the Cup, which was eventually decided with a 15–13 victory over the United States.

Rea, however, attempted to deflect the spectator activity. Asked specifically about McIlroy, Rea said: “I haven’t heard some of that—I’m sure it’s happened.”

He added: “It happened when we were in Rome on the other side.”

Two years ago at the Ryder Cup in Rome, Patrick Cantlay was the subject of excessive taunting in response to a report that he went without a hat due to his desire to be paid. (Cantlay has continually denied this.) It made for a tense afternoon that boiled over with a dispute between Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, and McIlroy.

But there were no reports of tossed beers at players’ wives, vulgar obscenities and the like. European fans have been known to get rambunctious as well as Ryder Cups. But to the level experienced over the weekend at Bethpage?

Tyrrell Hatton, also the recipient of plenty of abuse, challenged that assertion.

“Personally, I don’t think they were close at all. With what I heard last week, I don’t think Rome comes anywhere near that,” Hatton said. “To be honest, personally, I don’t agree with what they said there. I don’t know what else to add to that. I think they [Rome and Bethpage] are quite far apart to be honest.”

Said Rea in the BBC Sport interview: “Things like that are going to happen and I don’t know what was said. But all I know is golf the engine of good.”

In the LinkedIn post, Rea wrote in part: “Thank you for all that reached out to me as a friend and golf industry leader. I’m personally taking some criticism right now and that comes with the role and just like when I was an umpire I expect it. However to the students and PGA members that followed me, know this, I am not bothered. I know who I ultimately serve … This truth is still the truth.”

The truth is that several have come out criticizing the PGA of America, including two-time Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson, who congratulated the European team in a social media post but added: “More importantly, I’d like to apologize for the rude and mean-spirited behavior from our American crowd at Bethpage. As a former player, captain and as an American, I am ashamed of what happened.”

Ben Crenshaw, who captained the U.S. team to victory in 1999, said in a text exchange with Sports Illustrated said that “the PGA needs to do a better job with security.”

Rea was also criticized for the way he conducted the post-event ceremony in which he referred to the Europeans as “retaining” the Cup as opposed to winning it and failed to give the trophy to European captain Luke Donald.

“I don’t want to speak for everyone, but we felt a bit of bitterness during the trophy presentation and handshake,” said European player Matt Fitzpatrick on Wednesday at the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland.

“Me and Rosie [Justin Rose] looked at each other thinking the congratulations didn’t feel very heartfelt. He said we only retained it, but actually—we won it.

“What the PGA of America guy said about it being the same in Rome—he clearly wasn’t there. Either he wasn’t there or he was listening to something else, because it was never like that. It’s always been playful, just banter.

“The interview with the PGA guy saying it was the same in Rome. That’s pretty offensive to European fans.”

Derek Sprague, the PGA of America CEO, said in an interview with Golf Channel on Tuesday that he planned on sending a personal apology to McIlroy and his wife.

“There’s no place for that in the Ryder Cup or the game of golf,” Sprague said. “I heard Rory say it, we’re better than that in golf. That’s one thing our game has always portrayed when you compare us to other sports is that golf is a great game and people enjoy the game because of the values that golf has.

“I can’t wait to reach out to Rory and Erica, and really the entire European team. Rory might have been a target because of how good he is, but the entire European team should not have been subjected to that. I feel badly and I plan on apologizing to them.”

Rea is the owner/operator of the Augusta Ranch Golf Club in Mesa, Ariz. He’s a longtime member of the PGA of America, becoming its secretary in 2020 and a vice president in 2022 before becoming president last year.