Buckle up, this one is a lot to process.
Don Rea, the president of the PGA of America, has caught plenty of scrutiny since the Ryder Cup, first for his refusal to apologize following fan behavior directed toward the European team, specifically Rory McIlroy and his wife, Erica.
“Well, you have 50,000 people there that are really excited, and heck, you can go to a youth soccer game and get some people who say the wrong things,” Rea said. Then, when asked specifically about the abuse directed at McIlroy, he said, “I haven’t heard some of that. I’m sure it’s happened … Rory understands things like that are going to happen.”
A couple days later, Rea sent a letter to PGA of America membership and seemed to reverse course on his initial laissez-faire approach. “Let me begin with what we must own. While the competition was spirited — especially with the U.S. team’s rally on Sunday afternoon — some fan behavior clearly crossed the line,” Rea said to members. “It was disrespectful, inappropriate, and not representative of who we are as the PGA of America or as PGA of America golf professionals. We condemn that behavior unequivocally.”
Even his attempt to correct course on an apology rubbed plenty of fans the wrong way, many of whom questioned his leadership.
Now, The Shotgun Start has received video of Rea doing karaoke of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” on Saturday night, an hour after the worst of the verbal abuse occurred and when the U.S. faced an 11½-4½ deficit, the largest in modern Ryder Cup history (since 1979) going into singles.
The Times initially reported Rea’s involvement in Saturday night karaoke, but now there’s video to accompany the report. There was also the emcee who stepped down after directing derogatory chants toward McIlroy on the first tee.
And in the wake of everything that was transpiring on the course at Bethpage Black and Rea’s initial refusal to address the issues, the video is another thing during Ryder Cup week that looks like an eyesore for the PGA of America.
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