Don Rea made a big mistake by trying to downplay the issues of one of golf’s most influential players. His ignorance of the abuse Rory McIlroy & his wife faced got him a lot of backlash from the community. And it turns out he also ended up losing his right to represent the PGA of America during major events.

PGA of America CEO Terry Clark told Golfweek, “Okay, so let me answer your first point. Don will not be on stage with me, I know that. We’ve got Don operating in a different lane right now that’s very, very focused around membership. I’m the one that should be projecting the external voice of the organization around things like this.”

“But has he been muzzled? Don has been asked to specifically focus on those non-public-facing membership responsibilities. And he’s happy with that role? I can’t comment for Don. I talk to Don all the time. He is still very active in his work with the board. Part of me deciding to come in was going to be that I’ve got specific support to be able to do the job, and so I think part of that is I should be the spokesperson at this event.”

After everything Rea said during the 2025 Ryder Cup, he has been removed from the spokesperson position. He won’t be on stage during the 2026 PGA Championship trophy presentation. Instead, he has been granted a back-of-the-office role to manage the memberships. Clark believes that being the leader of the organization, he should be the one leading the charge to best represent the PGA of America.

It’s a wise decision taken by the organization’s executive. Rea had been quite firm on his stance against the situation. In fact, the PGA of America had to extend an apology on his behalf towards McIlroy & his wife in the end.

It’s not only McIlroy’s influence that they feared going into the second major of the season. One other European star had risen to success over the last few months. And he, too, had shown his dissatisfaction towards Rea.

Rory McIlroy received strong support from his European teammate against Don Rea

Not long after Don Rea’s reaction to Rory McIlroy’s problems had made the headlines, many big names in golf had raised their concerns about the PGA of America executive’s behavior. One of them was the Northern Irishman’s teammate, Matt Fitzpatrick.

The Englishman told the reporters, “I guess they are apologizing on behalf of the fans. Like I say, I saw those comments about the – I saw the interview with the PGA guy discussing it was the same in Rome. It’s pretty offensive to European fans the fact that he said that, really.”

Considering the form he has been in this season, Fitzpatrick has gained a lot of fan following recently. He and the 30-time PGA Tour champion are both favorites to win the major. If he is seen being upset about Rea’s presence during the 2026 PGA Championship’s trophy ceremony, then the PGA of America might not be pleased with that. Especially if things had escalated once again between Rea and McIlroy.

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