The PGA of America impeached its President, Ted Bishop on Friday over a sexist tweet and Facebook post that called out golfer Ian Poulter. In a recent book, Poulter questioned the selections of Ryder Cup captains Nick Faldo in 2008 and Tom Watson for this year.
A clearly irritated Bishop called Poulter a “lil girl” on Twitter and “little schoolgirl” on Facebook. While the tweet and Facebook post were deleted, veteran golf reporter Ryan Ballengee saved them for posterity.
The (outgoing) president of the PGA of America, everyone. pic.twitter.com/ZorzmKAp66
— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) October 23, 2014
And this on Bishop's Facebook page. http://t.co/YGGXefUIXH pic.twitter.com/bxLYu97Csd
— Ryan Ballengee (@RyanBallengee) October 23, 2014
The PGA of America’s board voted to remove Bishop immediately and he won’t be invited to future PGA Championships and Ryder Cups, privileges bestowed to past PGA Presidents. Bishop has apologized to Poulter and of course to “anyone else I offended.”
Since the United States lost to Europe in the Ryder Cup, golfers and pundits have been playing the blame game as to why the US did not fare so well. Poulter’s book “No Limits” which was recently released questioned Watson’s leadership and decisions leading into the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles. It was Bishop who chose Watson to be the Ryder Cup captain this year.
Bishop put out his social media posts on Thursday. The PGA of America asked him to resign on Friday and when he refused, the board voted him out. Bishop said, “This is a classic example of poor use of social media on my part and if I had the chance to hit the delete button on the things that I sent out (Thursday), I would without hesitation. The PGA of America asked me to avoid any interaction with the media in the past 24 hours and that is why I did not issue a formal and public apology, which I have wanted to do since early (Friday) morning.”
Bishop had a month to go on his term, but with his ouster, he is no longer the association’s president. It’s a lesson to people in leadership that before you pick up the smartphone to tweet or to post on Facebook, take a beat and decide whether your thought really needs to be seen worldwide. Once you hit “tweet,” “send” or “enter,” it’s gone and it’s out there for everyone to see.
[ESPN]
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About Ken Fang
Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.
He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.
Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.