The Sky Sports golf commentator Ewen Murray says the “disgusting” behaviour at last year’s Ryder Cup convinced him it was time to retire. The much admired Scot also fired parting shots at the USA captain Keegan Bradley and the PGA of America.
Speaking on the Sliced Golf podcast, Murray, 71, said the comments from the MC on the first tee at Bethpage and from spectators on Saturday afternoon had been beyond the pale.
“I heard stuff in that half-hour that I can’t repeat to you, it’s that bad,” he said. “Not fired at Rory [McIlroy] but at Rory’s family. I walked back and I thought, ‘Do you really need to be part of this any more?’ That’s when I decided to finish commentary. By the time I got on the plane on a Monday, I looked out over New York and thought it’s been a fantastic journey, but if that’s our future I really don’t want any part of it.”
Murray has been a commentator for 35 years but his Sky contract has now expired Andrew Redington/Getty Images
Murray, a former professional with 35 years’ commentating experience, has a gentle delivery but his words will strike a firm chord with many. He was also dismayed by the response of Bradley after the MC, Heather McMahan, had led the crowd with a chant of “F*** you, Rory.”
“The PGA of America should be ashamed employing a woman at the back of the first tee to behave the way she behaved,” he said. “I actually found out, thankfully, she doesn’t have kids so we’re not going to see the next generation of that. I thought her performance was disgraceful.”
Bradley’s role in whipping up the crowd also drew rebuke. Murray said: “If Keegan Bradley, who came and supported it and waved his hands to get the crowd to get louder, spent as much time looking at his pairings, [he] may well have been a winning Ryder Cup captain. I think they spent way too much energy on something that was disgusting and really had no place in our game.”
As for the PGA of America, whose president, Don Rea, likened the crowd abuse to a “youth soccer game”, Murray said witheringly: “I just thought,‘What a terrible organisation.’ ”
McMahan was MC-ing at the Ryder Cup and led an abusive chant about McIlroy, but later apologised to him and Team EuropeLeon Bennett/Getty Images
Murray has not been heard much lately after his Sky contract expired, but he returned at The Players Championship last week and will be commentating at the Masters and the Open before potentially calling it a day at the Senior Open at Gleneagles in July. He said there was no longer a place for a lead commentator.
Meanwhile, Jon Rahm has withdrawn his appeal against DP World Tour sanctions for playing in clashing LIV Golf tournaments, but he is still refusing to pay about £2.5million in fines.
The Spaniard, who has won about £63million on the Saudi circuit in addition to his original £225million contract, had been able to play on the DP World Tour pending that appeal, which was the loophole used to play for Europe at the Ryder Cup last year. His move means he is now in an entrenched position and is ineligible for the DP World Tour. If neither side backs down, he will be unable to make his minimum four events to keep his membership and, hence, will be out of the running for next year’s Ryder Cup in Ireland.
It is an enduring mess, but Rahm has always said he will never pay the fines. His argument is that he did not have to gain releases to play on the PGA Tour, and that he would not have played in the conflicting events anyway. The DP World Tour says he broke rules that he signed up to.
Rahm has refused to accept the DP World Tour’s terms for a route back and is unwilling to pay finesYu Chun Christopher Wong/Getty
He was also offered a route back last month when the Tour gave conditional releases to eight LIV players. That meant the likes of Tyrrell Hatton, Thomas Detry and Tom McKibbin would not face further fines and suspensions after settling their outstanding debts. Rahm refused to accept that deal because of the conditions which stated he must play in six DP World Tour events. He said that if that number had been four he would have signed immediately. It seems that he feels Tour chiefs will eventually buckle and accede to that wish.
However, patience is now wearing thin. Rahm has not said why he withdrew his appeal, but is likely to have belatedly realised that precedent is against him after the unsuccessful appeal decision of 2023. On that occasion an arbitration panel found the DP World Tour had the right to fine LIV appellants, including Ian Poulter, who had committed “serious breaches” of the Tour’s code of behaviour and regulations.
Rahm is playing on the LIV circuit in South Africa where large crowds have been lapping up Bryson DeChambeau’s form. The American led by two strokes at the halfway point and said: “This atmosphere is something that I want to play in a lot more and I know we can do that across the globe.”