The PGA of America Board of Directors has suspended President Don Rea for the remainder of his term following controversy over fan abuse at the 2025 Ryder Cup. The organization announced the decision on Friday evening, confirming that Rea will step aside through November of this year.
Vice President Nathan Charnes has been promoted to serve as interim Acting President, according to GolfWeek. Rea was elected as PGA President in 2024, but has been kept out of the spotlight in recent months after his term was rocked by controversy in the aftermath of last year's tournament.
Last September's battle between Europe and the United States at Bethpage Black turned sour on day two after Team Europe and Rory McIlroy in particular were subjected to horrendous abuse from American spectators. Rea sparked backlash when he controversially failed to condemn the abuse from the galleries.
Golf writer Michael McEwan criticized Rea's reaction in a post on X on September 30, 2025: "Jesus wept. What chance do you have when this is how the people in charge respond? Don Rea, the PGA of America president, resorting to ignorance and whataboutery in response to fans aiming homophobic slurs and worse at Rory McIlroy and his Ryder Cup teammates."
Fan Abuse Details
During the Saturday foursomes and fourballs, world No. 2 McIlroy was taunted about his private life and called a homophobic slur. His wife Erica Stoll was hit by a drink as the atmosphere turned nasty at Bethpage Black, while Luke Donald's European players were subjected to a torrent of abuse.
Rea suggested European players were treated no worse than American players when they traveled to Marco Simone in 2023. In an interview with the BBC, Rea said: "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."
When pressed on the personal attacks on McIlroy, Rea added: "I haven't heard some of that - I'm sure it's happened." He also claimed that the Masters champion understands the heckling, adding: "It happened when we were in Rome on the other side and Rory understands... 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."
Crowd Control and Apology
Rea also appeared to blame Team USA's early struggles on their fans in an interview ahead of the Sunday singles, which ended in a narrow victory for Team Europe. Team USA struggled over the first two days at Bethpage Black, with home players including Justin Thomas forced to try to quieten the crowds during his match against McIlroy and Shane Lowry.
Rea suggested the situation affected player performance, claiming: "When our American players have to control the crowds, that distracts them from playing. So our message today, to everybody out here, is: cheer on the Americans like never before because that will always get them to play better. Get them out of crowd control and let them perform." He added: "We tell the fans: booing somebody doesn't make them play worse. Typically it makes them play better."
PGA of America chief executive Derek Sprague eventually apologized to McIlroy and Stoll after it emerged that Team Europe was ready to walk off the course over the abuse.
Rea further faced backlash when footage emerged of him singing "Lose Yourself" by Eminem on the day of the course chaos. The Times revealed that Rea opted to sing karaoke rather than address concerns about the heckling just hours after Team USA fell 11.5-4.5 down on a toxic second day at Bethpage Black.