Ted Bishop was elected president of the PGA of America on November 10, 2012. His presidency lasted less than two years when he was removed by the organization's board on Friday following sexist comments he made on social media.
In response to Ian Poulter's book that criticized the Ryder Cup captaincies of Nick Faldo and Tom Watson, Bishop took his anger to Twitter and Facebook and posted comments that did not sit well with the PGA of America. He referred to Poulter as a "Lil Girl" on Twitter and then added, "Sounds like a little school girl squealing during recess. C'MON MAN!" on Facebook.
As a result, Bishop was impeached as president - the first in the history of the PGA of America - after he was asked to resign but refused to do so. He wanted to apologize to the public first and see how the association and general public responded, but he didn't get a chance to do so.
"The PGA of America understands the enormous responsibility it has to lead this great game and to enrich lives in our society through golf," PGA chief executive Pete Bevacqua said in a statement. "We must demand of ourselves that we make golf both welcoming and inclusive to all who want to experience it, and everyone at the PGA of America must lead by example."
The PGA of America named Bevacqua its CEO on the same day Bishop was elected president. Bevacqua and the board felt it was necessary to oust Bishop because the PGA of America was receiving a lot of negative feedback following the comments. The association has 1,100 female members and reiterated Bishop's comments were inconsistent with their policies.
Oddly enough, Bishop openly criticized the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews for their male-only membership policy back in April of 2013. The club announced they would begin admitting women in September after 260 years of exclusion.
"I find that to be very curious and perplexing given the fact that the R&A has not been inclusive as evidenced by their unwillingness to accept women as members to the R&A," Bishop said in an interview with Golf World's Tim Rosaforte. "This is a much different approach than we have taken in America."
Bishop's last move as president was his creation of the Ryder Cup Task Force, which is comprised of former captains and past/current players who have participated in the biennial event. The United States has lost eight of the past 10 Ryder Cups, including an embarrassing loss this year and an epic collapse in 2012.
He also issued a ban on anchoring putters in May of 2013 and created a 10-person task force to work to help combat the decline in participation of the sport of golf. That was about all Bishop could accomplish before he was impeached. He will no longer receive invitations to future PGA Championships or Ryder Cups, among other PGA-related events.
Bishop issued numerous apologies and took full responsibility for his actions. He was unable to complete the two-year presidential term for the PGA of America.
