PGA of America president Don Rea Jr., who initially compared vitriolic comments at the Ryder Cup with what could be heard at a youth soccer game, finally apologized Thursday in an email to the 30,000-plus golf professionals he was elected to serve.
Europe built a record lead after two days and held on for a 15-13 victory — its sixth in the last eight Ryder Cups — but the event was marred by a gallery that made it personal and profane.
The PGA of America has been reeling from its lack of response to behavior at Bethpage Black, which began as early as Friday morning when a small section of fans chanted, “(Expletive) you, Rory,” upon seeing Rory McIlroy’s image on a video screen from the practice range.
It only got worse, with vulgar language directed at European players, video of a beer being slapped out of someone’s hand toward McIlroy’s wife, and a comedian hired to lead cheers on the first tee getting involved in the expletive-laden chant toward McIlroy.
Rea said in a BBC interview Sunday morning, “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.”
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