Legendary golf commentator: "Disgusting" Ryder Cup scenes pushed me away from sport
Sky Sports commentator Ewen Murray has explained his plans for the future.
Legendary golf commentator Ewen Murray has revealed he deliberately stepped away from the sport after witnessing the "disgraceful behaviour" at the 2025 Ryder Cup.
Europe managed to win a thrilling contest 15-13 at Bethpage Black in New York, holding off a remarkable comeback from the United States on the final day.
But they did so amid a hostile atmosphere in which they were subjected to a barrage of verbal abuse from some outside the gallery ropes.
Rory McIlroy was the primary target, with the Northern Irishman's wife Erica being struck by a drinks cup and some even making comments about their four-year-old daughter Poppy.
Murray told the most recent edition of Sliced that on the plane journey home from the Big Apple he thought to himself if that is the future then he doesn't want any part of it.
"Well, the PGA of America should be ashamed employing a woman at the back of the first tee to behave the way she behaved," Murray said when asked what he thought of the crowd behaviour at Bethpage.
Murray was referencing comedian and actress Heather McMahan, who was hired by the PGA of America to rev up the crowd on the first tee box.
McMahan was asked to step down from the role after leading the crowd in a vulgar chant about McIlroy. She later apologised and stressed she was only repeating what she heard from the spectators.
"And I actually found out, thankfully, she doesn't have kids," Murray added. "So we're not going to see the next generation of that. I thought her performance was disgraceful."
Murray continued: "On the Saturday, I had two hours off after they teed off in the afternoon and because I don't hear tremendously well, I thought I'll go out to the 9th, 10th and 11th which were in a little circle and quite close to the television village.
"I heard stuff in that half hour I was there that I can't repeat to you. It's that bad. [The comments were not] fired at Rory but at Rory's family and I walked back and I thought, 'do you really need to be part of this anymore?'
"And that's when I decided to finish commentary.
"By the time I got on the plane on the Monday, I looked 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."
The behaviour of then PGA of America president, Don Rea, also didn't sit well with Murray.
Rea initially failed to condemn that behaviour of some spectators, comparing it to a child's football game and no worse than what Patrick Cantlay had to endure during the 2023 matches in Italy.
During the trophy presentation, Rea congratulated Europe on retaining the Cup and not winning it outright.
It's an important distinction and some members of the European team, such as Matthew Fitzpatrick, thought he deliberately made the comment.
"Then you've got the [president] of the PGA congratulating Europe on retaining the Ryder Cup," said Murray.
"[I thought] where have you been for the last few hours? You know, they didn't retain.
"They had a putt to retain which they knocked in, then they had a putt to win which they knocked in.
"They didn't retain and I just thought what a terrible organisation. I shouldn't say that because my father was captain of the PGA in Scotland in the mid-seventies so it was very much part of growing up and my father's involvement in that and every other profession involved in the PGA but I don't think they did themselves any favours at all."
Murray said Keegan Bradley may have been a winning captain had he put more energy in his pairings than getting involved with the crowd.
The Scot hasn't officially retired but he may call it quits at the end of this season.
"My contract finished three months after the Ryder Cup," he said.
"I met with our golf chief, Jason Wesley, who's been running Sky Sports golf for over 20 years.
"I [said] I just think my time is probably up in the sense that there's no place for a lead commentator.
"There's no place for my job because the world feeds have their own lead commentators, quite rightly so.
"I just feel that after the Ryder Cup I lost a little bit of respect for the game. I was so disgusted at the stuff I heard.
"As I say, I'll never repeat it because it's that bad. I just thought, you know, you're 71 years of age, you've had a great kick of the ball, as they say in Scotland.
"Now is maybe the time. We had a couple of lunches and Jason was keen for me to do the majors and The Players.
"Because I'd sort of mentally switched off, I said: 'Yeah, but if I do the majors now I have to work every week because I have to know what's going on. You know, I have to look at other tournaments to see who's playing well, who's not playing well.'
"Anyway, he persuaded me to do The Players, which was pretty much okay.
"I will be doing The Masters. I will do The Open and I may finish at the Seniors [Open] because my mother met my father at Gleneagles. My father was an assistant pro and my mother worked in the hotel.
"So I may finish there. I enjoyed last week so much being back with the Sky team that I'll maybe leave it open.
"Maybe leave it open and just do some tournaments because I've never seen my job as work.
"It's almost like being a hobby and when you have good people around you, and I'm not talking just about the commentators, I'm talking about the production team.
"We've got a very young production team at Sky and they're highly talented and they take years off you.
"Being with young people is a good thing when you're 71 rather than walking the dog and seeing Charlie where he's walking stick and saying 'I'm going in for a new heart next week.'
"I mean you need to be with young people to stay young and so I know I missed that in the six months that I had off.
"So we'll see as long as I'm still okay upstairs and still happy to do the preparation, the homework, the research.
"If I'm still able and happy to do that I may continue but that's the plan at the moment."
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Ben Smith joined the GolfMagic team in September 2021, initially as a content executive.
These days, he assumes the position of content manager.
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