Don Rea Jr. is no longer the president of the PGA of America. The Board of Directors removed Rea from the office on Friday, May 22, 2026 — just six months before his two-year term would have expired in November. Vice President Nathan Charnes has been elevated to acting president until the November transition.
The move makes Rea only the second president in the long history of the PGA of America to be formally pushed out of the position, joining Ted Bishop, who was removed in 2014.
In its statement, the Board said the decision “followed a series of issues over time that, taken together, were determined to be detrimental to the Association.” It did not enumerate the specific issues, but the timeline points squarely at the United States team’s chastening loss at the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black — and the off-course behavior that surrounded it.
What Happened
Rea was elected the PGA of America’s 44th president on November 7, 2024, after a long climb through the organization. A PGA Master Professional based in Mesa, Arizona, where he owns and operates the par-61 Augusta Ranch Golf Club, Rea had spent more than two decades in PGA leadership — secretary in 2020, vice president in 2022, president from late 2024.
His tenure as president coincided with the most controversial Ryder Cup in modern memory. The matches at Bethpage Black in late September 2025 featured persistent fan abuse directed at the European team, with players including Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry calling out the behavior during and after the event. Europe ran out comfortable winners, retaining the cup on American soil.
In a BBC interview during the matches, Rea brushed off the abuse by comparing the Bethpage crowd to spectators at a youth soccer game, a line that triggered immediate backlash from European players and pundits. Matt Fitzpatrick called Rea out by name in the days that followed.
A separate video also went viral that week: Rea, off-duty on Saturday night, performing Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” at a karaoke event while the United States team was being routed across town. The optics of the PGA president singing on stage as American golf endured a public hammering proved difficult to shake.
The day after the matches, Rea wrote to the PGA’s roughly 30,000 club professionals to condemn the fan behavior and apologize to the European players, conceding that some of his own comments had reflected poorly on him and on the Association. The Board’s vote on May 22 suggests that apology was not enough to repair the damage.
Why It Matters
The PGA of America is one of the most powerful institutions in the sport. It runs the PGA Championship, the Ryder Cup on United States soil, the Senior PGA, and the PGA Professional Championship; it also represents the working professionals who teach, fit, and run golf operations at thousands of clubs across the country.
Removing a sitting president — only the second time it has happened — is therefore not symbolic. It tells the membership that the Board is willing to act when it believes its public credibility is at stake, and it sets a precedent for the kind of conduct that will or will not be tolerated from the office.
It also reframes the runway to the next Ryder Cup. With Jim Furyk already named U.S. captain for the 2027 matches at Adare Manor in Ireland and Tiger Woods having declined the captaincy to focus on his health, the U.S. side of the matches is now being rebuilt at almost every level — captain, vice captains, and now the head of the parent organization.
The Path To Charnes
Nathan Charnes steps into the acting president role on an interim basis. He had been the vice president since November 2024, the typical waiting room for the top job, and will now finish out Rea’s two-year term through this November. The PGA’s normal succession will then play out — a new vice president becomes president-elect, and a new president is elected at the Annual Meeting.
Charnes inherits a long to-do list: improving the U.S. fan experience at the next Ryder Cup, navigating the ongoing tension between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, and shoring up the PGA of America’s relationship with its European counterpart after Bethpage. Those are heavy assignments for what is now, technically, a transitional presidency.
A Brief History Of Ryder Cup Flashpoints
Bethpage is not the first time crowd behavior or team-room moments have shaped the Ryder Cup conversation. The 1999 Battle of Brookline remains the textbook example of an American comeback that spilled into off-script celebrations, and the Miracle at Medinah in 2012 reframed how Europe approached singles Sunday on the road. Each of those events forced the institutions running the matches to recalibrate something — pairings, fan management, broadcast tone — and Bethpage looks set to do the same. If you want the full backdrop, our Ryder Cup history and format guide walks through how the matches got to this point.
What This Means For You And The Game
For everyday golfers, none of this changes how the game gets played. Tee times, handicaps, instruction networks, and PGA Championship qualifying all run on systems and people that long outlast any individual president. But for fans paying attention to the broader culture of the sport, the message from the Board is clear: the chaos and bad-faith fan behavior that defined Bethpage will not be allowed to define the next chapter. Adare Manor in 2027 will be the first real test of whether that intent translates into a different on-the-ground experience.
If the U.S. wants the Ryder Cup back, the fix likely starts with reputation. Charnes — and whoever follows him in November — has a narrow window to set that tone.
Key Takeaways
- Don Rea Jr. was removed as PGA of America president on May 22, 2026, six months before his term would have ended.
- Vice President Nathan Charnes is acting president until November.
- The PGA cited a “series of issues” without naming them, but the Bethpage Black Ryder Cup is the obvious through-line.
- Rea is just the second PGA of America president ever to be formally removed, after Ted Bishop in 2014.
- All eyes now move to Adare Manor and the 2027 Ryder Cup, with Jim Furyk leading a U.S. team that suddenly has a lot of rebuilding to do.
