On the Sunday of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, a beer can sailed over a rope line and struck Erica Stoll, the wife of Rory McIlroy. It was the loudest moment in a weekend of escalating fan hostility toward the European team and their families. Chants laced with vulgarities, players’ wives heckled. Security could barely keep pace.
The Ryder Cup now occupies the highest tier of American sports culture. Golf’s post-pandemic growth has brought in a younger, louder, more emotionally invested fan base — and with it, a tension the sport has never fully resolved. In a game built on sportsmanship and etiquette, where is the line between passionate fandom and behavior that undermines the values the sport claims to represent?
Beloved institutions like the PGA of America face even greater scrutiny because people hold them to a higher standard. And when they fall short, the backlash can come fast. Which is why what happened next mattered far more than the beer can.
On Sunday of the event, PGA of America president Don Rea Jr. was interviewed by a reporter for the BBC and the exchange went as follows:
Reporter:
“The fans’ behavior has perhaps crossed the line in some people’s opinion. What have you made of that?”
Rea Jr.:
“Well, you got 50,000 people here that are really excited, and, heck, you can go to a youth soccer game and get some people who say the wrong things. We tell the fans booing at somebody doesn’t make them play worse. Typically, it makes them play better. And when our American players have to control the crowds, that distracts them from playing. So our message today to everyone who is out here is cheer on the Americans like never before because that will get them to play better, and get them out of crowd control and let them perform.”
Reporter:
“What have you made of the fairly personal abuse though, that has been hurled at Rory McIlroy in particular?”
Rea Jr.:
“I haven’t heard some of that. I’m sure it’s happened. You know, it happens when we’re over in Rome on the other side. And Rory understands. I thought he handled the press conference yesterday amazingly. But yeah, things like that are going to happen. I don’t know what was said. But all I know is golf is the engine of good.”
Rea Jr.’s September 28 comments to the BBC drew relatively little attention at first, but coverage escalated in the days that followed as players and media continued to react. The leak of his controversial karaoke video on October 8 seemed to cement the fallout.
Rea Jr. missed a golden opportunity to calm the situation. Instead, his comments fueled another news cycle and kept the controversy alive. Within hours, European captains and players were publicly criticizing his comments. By the following week, U.S. PGA members had joined them. Rea Jr. attempted to walk the comments back, sending a letter to PGA membership apologizing for his remarks and condemning the fan behavior. But by then, the damage was done. In a high-profile crisis, first impressions tend to stick.
Those remarks, coupled with a viral Saturday-night karaoke of “Lose Yourself” and what was widely perceived as a light jab at the Europeans’ trophy ceremony, were the defining moments that set off a slow-motion leadership crisis that ended with Rea Jr.’s suspension and eventual removal from office eight months later.
“The Board’s action followed a series of issues over time that, taken together, were determined to be detrimental to the Association.”
— PGA OF AMERICA
In hindsight, Rea Jr. didn’t need formal coaching or a high-priced crisis counsel before the infamous interview that led to his demise. He needed only to read the values page on his own organization’s website. Among these values, a single line rings true in this particular case: “We create a respectful environment.” The fan conduct at Bethpage was the cleanest test of that phrase for the PGA of America. In any crisis, an organization’s stated values are the guidepost. They tell a leader, in advance, what kind of response is in character and what isn’t. Rea Jr.’s first response was off the mark.
Inside the same organization, another leader offered a much better example of crisis management in the moment. Derek Sprague (the PGA of America CEO at the time) was on the first tee for most of the Ryder Cup matches. He heard the vulgarities himself and acted, personally reaching out to McIlroy’s manager and sending a letter of apology to Rory and Erica.
Following the event, Sprague conducted an exclusive interview with The Athletic, stating in unambiguous terms: “I don’t condone this type of behavior. This is not good for the game of golf. It’s not good for the Ryder Cup.”
Sprague responded in a way that aligned with the PGA’s stated values. Rea Jr. did not.
This story shows us that managing a crisis effectively requires discipline built long before the moment. The scenarios, the rehearsals, the practiced instinct to fall back on the organization’s stated values. Sprague had built that muscle. Rea Jr. hadn’t.
In organizations with multiple public-facing voices, leaders often don’t know which one the public will hear most clearly until a crisis forces the issue. But when that moment comes, the standard is simple: no matter who is speaking, the response either reflects the organization’s stated values or it doesn’t. And in a developing crisis, there are no mulligans.