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The surprising chain of events that got Ted Bishop fired

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“It’s painful because it’s taken a lot of things that I’ve done and puts them down the drain,” said Ted Bishop, ex-president of the PGA of America, in an interview on the Golf Channel’s Morning Drive on Tuesday morning.

Bishop was fired last Friday for calling Ian Poulter a “lil girl” on social media the night before. As the public later learned, Bishop didn’t believe he should have been fired.

“I do not think the punishment fits the crime,” Bishop said on Morning Drive.

According to the ex-PGA President, he was desperately trying to express his remorse publicly after backlash began, but PGA of America representatives insisted they issue an apology on his behalf — one that Bishop was not ultimately comfortable with.

“Ted realized that his post was inappropriate and promptly removed it,” the statement read.

Dottie Pepper, former LPGA Star and current ESPN analyst, told Bishop he needed to issue his own apology, and she texted him what he should say, according to Bishop’s interview on Morning Drive. The PGA of America never allowed him to go public with what Dottie recommended.

Bishop also said he was seeking out Ian Poulter’s cell phone number from someone at the PGA of America in order to apologize to him directly, but got no reply.

“The silence was deafening,” Bishop said on Morning Drive. “I knew they were going to ask me to resign.”

He was right. PGA vice president, Derek Sprague broke the silence and called Bishop at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, urging him to step down as president, according to a report from Jaime Diaz of Golf Digest.

Instead of resigning, Bishop issued a statement on a 21-person teleconference with the board of the PGA of America at 4 p.m. He apologized for what he did, asked for the opportunity to apologize publicly and expressed remorse for his insults toward Poulter, according to Diaz. Bishop received zero votes from the board in support of him retaining the position.

After the teleconference, Sprague called Bishop, again urging him to resign. Bishop refused, saying that would “make it easy for the PGA of America,” Diaz reported.

“Well, it will save your career, save your reputation.” Sprague said, according to Bishop.

Bishop told Sprague that it wouldn’t.

“My reputation has already been ruined,” Bishop told him. “As far as my career, I’m going back to run my golf facility [The Legends]. I’m not going to run for another office in the PGA. So there’s nothing in it for me to resign.”

Despite Sprague’s warning that Bishop would regret his decision not to resign, Bishop pushed on, according to Diaz.

“I think the PGA of America needs to be in position to explain why this thing came down as it did,” Bishop told Sprague. “I don’t think it was totally fair.”

Despite what Bishop thought or still thinks, he was fired from his post as PGA of America president for violating the Code of Ethics, and because of “negative feedback” from the PGA of America members and sponsors, as Bishop explained on Morning Drive.

The videos below are from his interview on the Morning Drive on Tuesday morning. Bishop discusses the comments he made, the events that occurred leading up to his impeachment and what it all means to his legacy.

At around 1:30 in the video below, Bishop explains the work he’s done for women and girls over the course of his career and how he advocates for gender equality.

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

64 Comments

64 Comments

  1. BobbyG

    Apr 1, 2022 at 1:58 pm

    Truth is Ted is not very talkative and has a bland personality, so his comments were a shock. He’s not that likable, but he’s raised daughters and promoted them in golf along with many other females. He employs a head pro who is female and works hard to promote junior golf. He encourages women’s golf tremendously on his course and in the golf community. I wouldn’t call him a politician, but he’s not a chauvinist or anti women from what I have seen being around him and his course. This firing was just an excuse to go another direction maybe, but to go to such an extreme was totally uncalled for given how much others have done and been easily excused.

  2. FTWPhil

    Nov 3, 2014 at 11:26 am

    Maybe Poulter should play on the LPGA to prove he’s even a big girl.

  3. Walt

    Oct 30, 2014 at 7:30 pm

    We all have our own opinions, and we can either keep them to ourselves or voice them to the world. If we want to express our opinions we should be ready to face the fact others usually have differing opinions. To express one’s opinions with a supposedly “No Limits” title of a book and to act surprised if someone disagrees and calls you on your opinions only shows how important you think your opinions are. To cry foul about being able to voice your opinion without anyone disagreeing and not understand you are trying to keep someone else from voicing their opinion again shows you think your opinion is the only one with value.
    It is pretty shocking and disappointing to have Poulter act as a wronged innocent decrying someone disagreeing with his critiques and opinions and using social media and the god of PC to sway others that he was wronged. This from a man who generally never cared what people said or though about him. It was more than shocking and disappointing to have so many people jump on Paulter’s band wagon. Not one person looked at what happened without thinking how to use it to further their own agenda’s.
    Maybe I do not understand or I am not sensitive to others feelings, but to me no one except Poulter should have felt the impact of the words used, because they were true. Everyone knew the context the words were used in and to try to use them any other way only proves there are many people with agenda’s who are willing to beat their chest and tell people how wrong they are.
    Or maybe it was only a ploy to sell books?

  4. Dpavs

    Oct 30, 2014 at 8:45 am

    Bishop was a buffoon for saying what he did and he apparently understands that… but….

    This is just another example of a complete over-reaction to an overly sensitive public which apparently has developed some deranged euphoric view of a world where we are all protected from even the smallest levels of offensive speech.

    From my perspective at times we are inevitably going to suffer some levels of what might be considered offensive speech if we are to maintain “free speech” and that is a much more important tenant of our basic human rights by far.

    To me it’s time for the public to re-embrace the true concepts of freedom and stop whining and constantly whittling away at them for the sake of what is becoming an unbearably oversensitive society.

    I would love to see something like Bishop’s firing challenged on the basis of violation of the First Amendment… it’s past the time that someone challenge the sort of rubbish that someone gets fired, suspended or penalized in some other tangible regards for saying something which is merely offensive or unpopular.

    • Manchesteru822

      Oct 30, 2014 at 9:59 am

      Completely agreed…. it’s unbearably how sensitive our society has become

    • YJ

      Oct 30, 2014 at 4:49 pm

      The First Amendment protects your speech from government retaliation. It does not, nor should it, protect you from getting fired from a private employer because you’re a caveman who thinks things were better in the 1960s when women were told their place was cooking in the kitchen and serving their man in the bedroom.

      • Dpavs

        Oct 31, 2014 at 11:18 am

        While you are technically correct that generally the First Amendment right of free speech does not apply to the private sector there are a number of situations where an employers, or other organizations, using of an employee’s exercise of his\her right of free speech outside of the workplace as a reason for termination was deemed a violation of the First Amendment protections. In the instant example it of course would be a question of fact whether or not Bishop was acting in or outside of the scope of his position. To be clear too, my suggestion was merely that I felt that such a case is overdue to challenge some of the previous rulings against such a proposition.

  5. AggOwl

    Oct 30, 2014 at 8:33 am

    What Bishop did was wrong.

    But the PGAs reactio is all about the money in golf, not the game. It has nothing to do with gender equality and is solely an attempt to quell the potential uproar of the female oriented sponsorships.

    It is very simple, the amount of money and the size of egos outweighs the spineless board members.

    unfortunately the business of golf has ruined the game. This is exactly why I left a corporate golf facility and went to a member owned club.

    • Anon

      Nov 3, 2014 at 11:20 am

      This is why many “head golf professionals” at courses today can’t even break 90! They are good at selling shoes though!

  6. Scott

    Oct 29, 2014 at 11:09 pm

    Three reasons for Ted Bishop’s impeachment were given during the interview:
    1.) Negative media feedback (PC-media driving the PGA response)
    2.) Possible damage to sponsorships (Sponsors protecting their own PC images, $$ driving PGA response)
    3.) Negative response from PGA Members (Members driving the PGA management response)
    Of those three, the third seems the most valid to me and #1 and #2 are PC spin control and money driven.
    Those seem like common CYA responses for a diversity-driven, money-making bureaucracy. I think the simple back story for the 21-0 vote against Bishop is that he was more of a “free thinker”, “loose cannon”, “overly vocal”, “I’m gonna go with my gut” President than the board, and the board couldn’t or didn’t manage that situation well at all. Look at how things went down with the anchoring ban. Can you imagine how things are going to go down with the Ryder Cup task force? All this make me think that Paul Azinger made the exact right choice in saying “Not Yet” to being on the task force, pending meeting the PGA leadership – – wise man!

    • aggowl

      Nov 11, 2014 at 11:32 am

      Although reasons 1 & 2 may be PC spin control. They are the ONLY reasons it happened. Reason 2 mostly, Reason 1 drives reason 2. Reason 3 would be completely ignored if reason 2 was counter to reason 3.

      Wake up people!!!! It’s the almighty $… which is not as almighty as it once was… the USD will likely be secondary to the CNY VERY SOON!

  7. Bob H

    Oct 29, 2014 at 6:48 pm

    Ted Bishop certainly had his flaws but come on, Ian Poulter IS a whiny L’il Girl!

  8. leo

    Oct 29, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    another example of how twitter sucks.bishop only had a short time left at his position anyway.i wish he had been more forceful told the stuffed shirts and hypocrites at the pga to kiss his ass and go back to his facility where he does not have to censor his thoughts because he is the boss.the saying take this job and shove it is appropriate here

  9. SMS

    Oct 29, 2014 at 4:55 pm

    This was blown way out of proportion.
    Comical in a way how serious everyone is on this.
    It never should of happened in the first place but come on it is very minor and has NOTHING to do with denigrating women.
    It has everything to do with being more courteous in his position but certainly doesn’t qualify for the death penalty.

    • Mike Shannon

      Oct 29, 2014 at 6:40 pm

      this was just the “final straw” those who were looking to get rid of him

  10. Rob Logan

    Oct 29, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    You know, we see things like this happen in politics where someone makes a mistake and the knee-jerk reaction is to fire that person. Who among us can say they are perfect? Pretty soon, no one will want any job with any responsibility for fear that any little thing can/will get them fired. We as a society need to learn that lessons can be learned without firing people. Fortunately, Ted doesn’t really need to worry about money, but he only had like 2 months left in his tenure. This was a pretty low blow.

  11. michael

    Oct 29, 2014 at 3:21 pm

    The media across board has destroyed THE AMERICAN WAY!

    You can take all social media all shove it! It has destroyed

    people,business,American Life. Take all the media stars and

    asked them what they have done to make America a better

    place. Absolutely Nothing! They only want to line their own pockets

    with no remorse for anyone else.They can beat a dead horse bury it

    then dig it up and beat it again. The media serves no purpose and
    accomplishes nothing.

  12. golfing

    Oct 29, 2014 at 1:50 pm

    This is a media stunt, this guy is not that naive as you make it, and
    as Andy once said, we all get our 15min of fame.

    Since late September he knew he was a moon away from it and he slammed the
    door so he could make some attention.

    This people have PR phds so don’t believe the hype.

  13. scott

    Oct 29, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    This is not to support Bishop make no mistake about this post. This would not have happened if Bishop were smart enough and not so narcissistic to believe his personal opinions needed to be heard. The fact that he had to have, or worse, use a twitter account for anything other than praise and marketing is beyond me. When will adults learn that twitter is for entertainers or media types, not corporate professionals. We as corporate professionals will get crucified for our transgressions, that other group rarely gets admonished.

  14. Chris Downing

    Oct 29, 2014 at 1:35 pm

    Well this is what can happen when you get yourself involved with what is essentially a political organisation run by politicians. Bishop is wise to return to his own business again – if you have ever actually run a proper business that has real customers, real suppliers,g and the need to create real profits – being part of a organisation whose role is one of representation of interested parties involved in golf and keeping EVERYONE happy – well ultimately it will drive you nuts. (Ooops – in referring to nuts I in no way meant to disparage nuts and their role as a food souce to us all and to vegitarians – and vegitarianism makes an important contribution to our National Diet and indeed a perfectly healthy way of life for many Americans. I also did not mean to lesson the difficulties those with mental health problems when referring to work driving one “nuts” – this was perhaps a poor choice of words and in that sense I mis-spoke…….OK guys you get the drift……I can keep this up for another three paragraphs if you weren’t already bored!.) Being politically correct all the time sucks!

  15. John

    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:54 pm

    Pga has done what is right . The fact that he feels it isn’t a code of ethics violation shoes that he never really valued the pga , where as the’re 1000’s of pga pros proud to be members and wish for its reputation to be upheald . The pga of gbi would also not tolerate this but by the looks of it they give us a lot more guidance as to the do’s and don’ts of social media

  16. Kevin

    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    Isn’t Poulter a little girl?

    • Bradley

      Oct 29, 2014 at 9:59 pm

      It’s likely what I say on the issue won’t matter. But I’ve always been a firm advocate for never allowing the line between wrong and right from ever moving left for lack of a better way to say it.

      There are in fact thousands of words and phrases we’ve come to use in common practice that no one ever even considered as offensive, much less years ago, even thought that an opinion on the matter carried weight over someone’s own right to their own opinion.

      If you strip this entire situation down to exactly what was said and how it was somehow offensive we might take one moment to realize a couple important things. Mr. Bishop was conversing online with an Englishman. He used the term Lil Girl. One can only assume “Lil” a contraction to fit in the 140 character order of things. And then he used the word “Girl.” I invite you to read the ORIGIN and DEFINITION of the word “Girl” from The Oxford English Dictionary

      Origin

      middle english (denoting a child or young person of either sex): perhaps related to Low German gör ‘child’.

      As I said, Mr. Bishop was conversing with an Englishman and used a term found in HIS OWN dictionary that clearly displays Girl as a NON GENDER BASED descriptor for a child or young person. In this case, he was drawing a visual to a certain level of maturity being displayed by Mr. Poulter and in no way can this be termed as Sexist where no origin of sex is named or defined. While the word girl can mean many things to many people, those subsequent definitions, or perceptions thereof ALL are subsequent to the ORIGINAL definition of a word. That never goes away.

      So now in this context, the “supposed” offending tweets and FB posts actually said Lil Child or Little Young Person. Like a Little Child screaming on the playground at recess.

      It’s important to never let one thing be lost. We all have various things we do and say that comes from our heritage. That is part of what makes us the people we are. To find offense in the things that define us when they were always a part of common sense and heritage in the past will all but strip our own individuality away from all of us in the end. We will ALL be non gender based.

      So when you strip it all away, Mr. Bishop was fired for using correct words that others chose to interpret in a different way than the original intent of the opinion derived.

  17. Thomas J Coyne jr

    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:45 pm

    Firstly, I am absolutely appalled by the reaction of the news media and the PGA over this very minor incident. It in no way can be considered as sexual harrassment. After all, there is a reason that there is such a difference in girls and guys and heaven forbid if anyone wants to change it. And little girls do scream at almost everything, good or bad. Still we don’t want to change them for that. Their character and nature in that regards define them, is that not so? Sometimes guys, on the other hand, and I don’t use the term guys lightly, also get a little rambunctious in the heat of the moment and yell and scream, and of course it is the other guys nature to say something in jest and always it is in reference to his sexuality, but it is not a putdown in any case to either of the sexes, it is just plain human nature. Again, I would say so what, let it go, let’s not start WW 111 over it. This social media stuff is going just a bit too far don’t you think?
    The PGA was looking for a scape goat. Short and simple and some unknowing and sitting on the board hiding from their own inactivity over the loss of the Ryder cup were looking to highlight the loss at the people who done it and were in the limelight. Tom and Ted. All very unfortunate. Tom wasn’t the wrong choice, look at his record in golf and Ted didn’t make the wrong choice along with the coharts on the board, it is never a single man’s decision in a board room unless Hitler was sitting there. In my view the circumstances of the times are the culprits. After all, all the guys previously on the Ryder cup or the President’s cup only play a few tournaments a year now. The rookies are the only hungry ones, look at the stats. Some of the leaders are there to play table tennis, heck, that’s all they did when they got there and that’s all they did during off times. No play, no practice, and ending with no points. They also don’t need to play with the millions made each tournament and each year, most of which is from sponsors not from playing golf. Heck some of them make more money now at being commentators, a lot more than they could on the links. There is just no incentive and the record books and history will say who played, not how. The decision on who is selected to play at the cup not who played at each match was also the culprit. Tom didn’t have much to say about who was to go, only who was to play after they showed up. No other coach in any sport is put under these circumstances. A coach should have the total choice after all the end of the year stuff and tourneys are over. Maybe the attitude would change by the players from a prima donna to a respectful person. Perhaps how much they are playing and how they are playing would make a difference. Perhaps 12 is not the number but the number of matches there are, plus the singles. Bring along some backup. Allow the coach to coach, then blame him for the loss. If you review all the news media before the cup matches, not one did anything except have praise for Tom and the PGA for the decision. WOW, I couldn’t believe the absolute turn-around after. I could also not believe that the players were allowed to openly critique the decisions, especially after they were not selected to play and complained that the weather was not just right for their discomforts. I love all the guys that went but I don’t have much respect for them after they all acted like squealing “lil girls”.
    I have been a golf teacher and school coach off and on for 50 years, when I’m not involved in engineering something around the world. I’m 72 and part of the old school, with respect for authority and the heavenly dollar. I still shoot in the 80’s and have lost 1/3 of my distance, but I still practice and dream of the game. I teach natural golf and always have and I’ve developed new approaches to the grip, not just for us aged but also for arthritus sufferers. I was devastated when Phil was diagnosed and I can see its effect on each shot, especially in the cold and damp. I talk a lot cause you can’t take it with you.
    If we are looking for a change to win next time or at least give it a better shot some psychology is always good, but its not the complete answer, hard work is and having an attitude that was displayed this time by Reed would help, just growl and look pissed.

    Sincerely
    Thomas
    Estacada, Oregon 97023

  18. MJV

    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:42 pm

    Ted Bishop; his handling of the captain’s picks announcement in prime time, his Ryder Cup haircut, his riding all over the course in uniform…I concluded the guy had a huge ego, wasn’t necessarily overly thoughtful and I had to question his judgement(s). That was before the Poulter saga. As the leader of a large organization, talk about being out of touch. I’ve known of Ted Bishop for about 2 months and I think he’s a blowhard that got what he deserved. He should be back in the golf capital of Indiana selling sweaters.

  19. Joe

    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:37 pm

    Enough with the PC whining already!! PC whiners are exactly the people that family and friends hate to go see because they have to sit through the whiners whining about how it used to be and how it should be. Bishop got fired for a reason. This incident? Most assuredly not, but 0 votes in support says it all. For those of you who aren’t or haven’t been members of a board, I’ll translate: he was a jerk, NOBODY liked or wanted to work with him, period. This situation and vote was an accumulation of events. Board Membership is exclusive and all about relationships. 0 votes is astounding! Just try to get 20 people you know vote unanimously on anything at all. Let alone 20 people who aren’t nessecarily the best of friends, yet this guy did it!! Except to vote against him! Simply astounding! Tells me everything I need to know about his character.

  20. Thomas

    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    Dottie Pepper is one to talk. She can be as rude and unprofessional as the worst of them.

    • Joe

      Oct 29, 2014 at 1:09 pm

      Yea, you know you’re hurting if you’re begging for the opportunity to relay to the public advice that Dottie gave you! And it doesn’t involve a golf swing. That’s when you know it’s time to start looking for the emergency exits. He’ll go back to the Legends, get elected something, and tell anyone who will listen about how he used to be President of the PGA. And, of course, complain about the newest special assessment.

  21. Tserv

    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:18 pm

    If they wanted to dump Bishop for the unprofessional use of Twitter (a form of social media best left to vacuous entertainment industry trolls) then I wouldn’t give a crap. But they had to play the PC bullshirt card and tried to paint Bishop as some sort of anti – woman hater when any reasonable person could see that he isn’t. I have zero respect for anyone involved in this lynching.

  22. loubdoobe

    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:17 pm

    Hosed over political correctness…PGA of America settled this like little girls.

    • Fred

      Oct 29, 2014 at 6:23 pm

      Little girls is right. With one month left in office, they can him? The PGA needs to get over itself. The majority of the millions who play golf could care less about their precious reputation, or who the President of the moment is. Bishop’s remarks were sadly misplaced, but they echoed the thoughts of many. Apparently, as has happened in the past, the players can say what they want and get away with it. And, by the way, where is Nick Faldo in all this? Haven’t heard anything from Sir Perfect. Bishop was defending his… shall we say – reputation as a player, for crying out loud.

      I wonder what would happen if the President of the LPGA was a woman, and she called one of her players a “lil girl,” or better yet -called one of the guys on the PGA tour the same thing? I suppose everyone, including the PGA, would just get a laugh out of it, and go on with their business.

  23. JOEL GOODMAN

    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:12 pm

    SAD COMMENTARY ON THE PC GUTLESS WORLD WE LIVE IN.. A MAN CALLS OUT ANOTHER FOR BEING A LITTLE PRICK AND HE GETS CRUCIFIED.. POUTER HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PUNK AND CONTRIBUTED ZERO TO THE GAME OF GOLF AND NOW A MAN OF SOME STATURE IS DEAD BECAUSE HE CALLED A SPADE A SPADE… HE DAre not do that either as the NAAMF would be on his case next.

    • Colin Gillbanks

      Oct 30, 2014 at 8:02 am

      Poulter was good at Medinah though wasn’t he?

      Ohhh yes, he was really, really good at Medinah.

    • Joey

      Nov 2, 2014 at 12:04 pm

      So in your world calling someone a “lil girl” is a euphamism for “prick”? I’m curious how your daughters feel about that. People who use the phrase “PC” are WHINERS! Go whine some more, everybody around you knows your a whiner! And using “a spade a spade”‘ not hard to figure you out. Make sure you bleached your sheet before you go to the meeting tonite. You don’t want it to look off white.

  24. steve

    Oct 29, 2014 at 9:49 am

    Bishop has a big ego, thinking that he could do or say anything because he was the president. The guy is a dope, why would he waste one minute of his life reading/caring what Poulter thinks? Poulter is a flea on a dog, does anyone care what he what says? Bishop is a moron to get lured in by Poulter. Bishop was most likely hated by the board for being a ego maniac, no one fought for him. They were happy to get rid of him. But in the end it doesn’t mean anything to the average golfer.

    • gary m

      Oct 29, 2014 at 12:06 pm

      i didnt even know Poulter wrote a book…. who cares what he has to say anyhow. But thanks to the pub he can buy another Ferrari on us !!
      good bless America 🙂
      Haven’t heard alot of good about Bishop but he did hit it right on the head calling Poulter a “lil girl” but i can think of much better adjectives for him.

  25. dot dot

    Oct 29, 2014 at 8:41 am

    Poulter should call him and thank him. Without Bishops tweet very few would care about the book. It would have just been another vanity publishing. 100 copies and done. Now with the help of Bishop the buzz about this “lil girls” book will propel it’s sales beyond just Poulter’s family and friends.

    • rer4136

      Oct 29, 2014 at 9:48 am

      I did not know of Mr. Bishop until this social media circus came about. I don’t know anything about him or whether he is a good person or not. I am however surprised that someone in his position and with his life experience would be using social media to begin with. Countless people have used social media and caused the end of their careers as a result of choosing the wrong words. The only people benefiting from this entire thing are the social media owners. There is life without social media. Play more golf.

  26. Red

    Oct 29, 2014 at 7:30 am

    The entire issue of ‘political correctness’ is beyond my comprehension! Fired because you call someone a ‘lil’ girl’!! Give me a break! As a society we are doomed!

    • Michael

      Oct 29, 2014 at 11:45 am

      I understand your viewpoint, and I promise that I’m not trying to start an internet argument but I think there is a bigger issue here. As the President and an employee of the PGA, Mr. Bishop’s public arguing with another employee of the PGA (Poulter) is simply unacceptable. There is a time and a place for arguing, but it shouldn’t be done over a public forum. Depending on what went on behind the scenes, I don’t know if impeaching him was justified or not.

      • Weak society

        Oct 29, 2014 at 12:08 pm

        Yes, it was justified, as he decided to air out his opinion publicly on Twitter. After all, that’s what started it in the first place. Therefore, it is just punishment by society to embarrass him and to ostracize him, banish him and send him to be sent on an exile to the island!

        Gosh we have lost our back bone

        http://www.interestingandweird.com/-ostracised-on-an-island.html

      • Another Jeff

        Oct 29, 2014 at 12:10 pm

        Wouldn’t it be nice if we lived in a society where we got to hear peoples real thoughts? Instead, every head of an organization has to completely parse every word in every statement they make. Then, we, as a society complain about only getting PC responses. What do we expect.

        ENOUGH PC!!! I grew up with the childhood nickname: Fat Jeff Why? Well, my name is Jeff and I was fat as a child/adolescent. As hard as it may be for some psychobabble folks to believe……. I turned out OK and I have in intact sense of self esteem.

        As I recall there was once a guy once nicknamed Fat Jack. It looks to my like he did ok in life as well………

      • DolphLundgrenade

        Oct 29, 2014 at 4:46 pm

        Bishop is not employed by the PGA, and never has been. He was the associations president. It is unpaid. He was fired from an unpaid job. Lol. Bevaqua, krall, Haskins and staff are employees that are paid. No member is paid. In fact, they pay annual dues to the association.

        There is a lot of misunderstanding regarding the association and its two primary components: membership and tournaments.

        Sprague is a member and pays annual dues. He will not be paid for his role as president. It is voluntary and an elected position. The fact that the board is comprised of voluntary members and paid officers tells us that he wasn’t well liked. But, he did some great things and made waves. As a leader, he was aggressive but active which is awesome… That personality is strong and easily abrasive. Plus people get jealous of them.

      • Learning

        Oct 30, 2014 at 8:50 am

        Ian Poulter is not an employee of the PGA of America. Ian is a self employed golf professional who plays on the PGA Tour which is an entirely separate entity from the PGA of America.

    • Fred

      Oct 29, 2014 at 6:31 pm

      Red: it’s they’re “reputation” that they’re worried about. Considering all the Ryder Cups the US has been losing, I think they’ve got more important things to worry about. First the Cup, then Bishop. You can hear the laughter coming out of the pubs all over Europe. And if we’re so worried about PC these days, why does Golf Channel’s Chamblee still have a job?

  27. Scooter

    Oct 29, 2014 at 6:22 am

    There’s more to this story… And more will come out down the road. ZERO votes of confidence from the 21-member board??? What goes around comes around.

    • Joe

      Oct 29, 2014 at 12:35 pm

      Scooter – you are on target. This has all the signs of a convenient opportunity to dump a guy they felt was not right for the role. If he was their star, this would have been handled much, much differently.

      But he has obviously made enemies over the years – and “lil girl” created an opportunity to dump Bishop – eliminate his future influence in the PGA, and try to look progressive all at once.

      • Fred

        Oct 29, 2014 at 6:33 pm

        Think you’re right, Joe. The whole thing sounds like they couldn’t get rid of Bishop soon enough, and the “lil girl” incident just gave them an excuse to do it sooner than later.

  28. Ryan

    Oct 29, 2014 at 4:04 am

    What a sensitive world we live in now. Bunch of Lil Girls..

  29. Move on

    Oct 29, 2014 at 12:34 am

    PGA is dumb. The Ryder Cup is from an ancient, has-been concept of the old, White power of the Western, English speaking countries to pat themselves on the back for ruining the world. It’s time for a change, a big change. Time to move on.

    • Tserv

      Oct 29, 2014 at 12:11 pm

      Well there it is. The award for the dumbest thing on the internet for this month had been won.

      Good luck in the finals, I think you have a good shot at the dumbest post of the year.

    • Colin Gillbanks

      Oct 30, 2014 at 8:00 am

      Especially now that the US of A is on a losing streak.

      Let’s have a ‘modern’ event that USA is guaranteed to win.

  30. Jeff

    Oct 28, 2014 at 11:37 pm

    It all feels skeevy the way the PGA of America handled it. I know Bishop maybe deserved to go, but they should have let him author his own apologies. I find it hard to believe he couldn’t find Mr. Poulters cell number. The fact is….
    He was the president of the PGA and he felt the need to publicly deride a current player. What did he expect following Poulter’s seeing his insult? Fan support for Faldo and mainly Watson is my guess. But still, he didn’t think it through. Not presidential behavior as its not even professional, and the PGA holds even its its members accountable to an appropriately high standard.

  31. Robeli

    Oct 28, 2014 at 11:27 pm

    I thought the PGA of America’s handling the aftermath of Tom Watson’s Ryder Cup fiasco was bad, but this handling of Bishop is even worse. Wow!

  32. Scott

    Oct 28, 2014 at 10:12 pm

    I was surprised by Ted Bishop’s comments regarding likely never talking with or seeing Derek Sprague and Pete Bevaqua again in his life – – wow, that is a very shallow “friendship”! – – Ted is likely better off without those relationships, as they apparently were never good enough people to even talk the matter thru with him “off the record” and as true friends regardless of the political pressures they were under – – at least that’s what it sounds like from Ted’s perspective. Sounds like the PGA of America is off to a very shaky start, from a dignity and respect standpoint, of it’s new leaders.

    • Another Jeff

      Oct 29, 2014 at 12:24 pm

      I heard what you heard, however, it sounded like he was expressing a ban or something similar of any meaningful discussion with those guys had been handed down by the PGA. For goodness sake….. the guy had less than a month left. They could have “Investigated” for longer than that. COMPLETE AND TOTAL PC IDIOCY.

      Fact is we ALL say and do things – that if the PC Society heard – we’d all be crucified. Ever heard this on the first tee after a bad drive? Hey Alice, does you husband play?

      Was what he said dumb? Yes, but only in this HYPER PC climate we live in (and complain about). At some point we need to send a message back to organizations to not be so thin skinned. Care to guess hoe Ted is characterizing Poulter back at his home club, lol. Probably, the same way we do to our friends. **GASP**

  33. marcel

    Oct 28, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    at least he can improve his handicap over next few years before he dies in oblivion. one we dont speak of!!!

  34. marcel

    Oct 28, 2014 at 9:52 pm

    so who’s the lil girl now

    • Dan Brooks

      Oct 29, 2014 at 1:45 pm

      The lil girl is everyone involved in the firing of Bishop. All this political correctness BS is all stuff created by those with the exact same lil girl syndrome as Poulter.

      Then there is Paige Mackenzie who admitted she didn’t find anything wrong with the comment until the publicity hit. Now she fully understands just how wrong it was for him to use this sexist language. Is this a person who would place any value on her thoughts on anything after admitting she is just a sheep being led to the slaughter. If it wasn’t all so screwed up it would be funny. I refuse to watch golf channel going forward as they instigate all this crap. Sponsors will drop them because there are no viewers. Not because Bishop said Lil Girl.

      • Fred

        Oct 29, 2014 at 7:36 pm

        This whole thing would make a great soap opera called “As The Stomach Turns.” First, our guy Mickelson goes public about Captain Watson, and everyone and anyone who has anything to do with the European golf world says, “Oh, we would never through one of our people under the bus like that.”

        But then, low and behold, one of those Europeans – this one named Pouter – who would never stoop to the level of those bloody Americans, proceeds to throw one of his own – and not just anyone, mind you, but a golfer whose first name begins with “Sir,” under the bus, as well. Wow. What’s the world coming too? Can it get any worse?

        Well, just as poor Nick was thinking his glorious reputation was forever tarnished by the book of Ian, who should come to his rescue and pull him out from under the bus? Why, an American, of course. And not just any American, mind you, but the President of the Polite Golfer’s Association (PGA for short). Unfortunately, though, for Mr. Bishop, when he decided to come to Sir Nick’s defense, he called Ian a bad, bad name.

        Well, as you might have guessed, the powers-that-be at the PGA were terribly distressed (or maybe happy; I’m not sure) over Mr. Bishop’s attempt to play political referee. Whichever, the President was impeached on the spot. And, of course, being the democratic society that we are, there was no trial – no opportunity to be judged by his peers; at least so says Mr. Bishop. Such a sad turnover of events. I guess the only thing worse was Holly leaving the Golf Channel.

  35. b

    Oct 28, 2014 at 9:07 pm

    I don’t believe that bishop did anything close to deserve the punishment he recieved. The pga does not always act in the best interest of its members on all levels, even down to the individual sections. The dues payed do not subsequently equal to what most members get out of the pga of america. What say did pga members get in the removal of bishop?…..none…..garbage

  36. Matt

    Oct 28, 2014 at 8:45 pm

    The whole thing seems silly. He must have already had some enemies on the board.

    • Jack

      Oct 29, 2014 at 12:49 am

      Exactly. Some other things had gone down before, and this was just the reason that they needed to get rid of him. I’m just guessing too, but it sure seems likely.

      Also I don’t get what he was thinking. He was probably drunk, and was just trash talking on social media. You do that to friends, and no publicly. Stranger things have happened though.

      • Pat M

        Oct 29, 2014 at 11:32 am

        So stupid just like the USA s*cking at the Ryder Cup. The USGA/PGA should have tested players who were friends with Dr. Anthony Gallea the steroids doctor. They hushed that one up. The good thing is steroids destroy the body.

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