Don Rea has been removed as president of the PGA of America, the association said late Friday afternoon, and vice president Nathan Charnes will serve as Acting President until November with six months left on Rea's two-year term.
The PGA of America said the move "followed a series of issues over time that, taken together, were determined to be detrimental to the Association." Charnes, who was selected as Vice President in November 2024, steps into the role after the Board of Directors intervened. Rea, who became president in November 2024 after serving as vice president under John Lindert, had faced sustained criticism following the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
The Ryder Cup episode that shadowed Rea's presidency included a hostile atmosphere at Bethpage Black and a public backlash to comments he made to the defending the crowd. Rea told the broadcaster, "Well, you got 50,000 people here that are really excited, and, heck, you can go to a youth soccer game and get some people who say the wrong things." When asked about comments directed at Rory McIlroy he said, "I haven't heard some of that." He apologized to members one day after his remarks: "While it wasn't my intention, some of my comments were seen in a negative light which reflects poorly on not only myself but also on the PGA of America and for that I truly apologize." The Ryder Cup ended with Europe retaining the cup; Rea also said during the trophy ceremony that Europe retained the cup instead of winning it outright.
Pressure on Rea mounted through the winter. In February, Golfweek's Adam Schupak reported Rea had been reassigned to handle member-first priorities. Rea was not publicly seen at last week's PGA Championship, and at a championship press conference CEO Terry Clark said Rea had been focused on "how we think about our membership." Rea was further criticized after he was recorded singing "Lose Yourself" by Eminem on a Saturday night of the Ryder Cup while public attention stayed fixed on fan behavior and the event's aftermath.
The board framed the dismissal as the result of accumulated problems rather than a single moment, a point that creates friction with the public narrative that Rea had already been moved away from front-line duties. The association's statement that the action "followed a series of issues over time that, taken together, were determined to be detrimental to the Association" sits alongside prior steps that limited Rea's visibility — reassignment in February, absence from the PGA Championship and the earlier apology. That gap between public repositioning and formal removal is the central contradiction in the story.
Rea's removal is rare in the PGA of America's history. Since 1916 there have been 44 presidents; Rea is now one of the very small number to leave office before the scheduled end of a term. Nathan Charnes will carry the association's public leadership through November, and the board's choice to make an early change puts the PGA on a path to close the chapter opened by the Bethpage Black controversy. For Don Rea — who said, "While the competition was spirited, some fan behavior clearly crossed the line" and that "It was disrespectful, inappropriate, and not representative of who we are" — the formal end of his presidency comes after apology, reassignment and a public episode that the board determined it could no longer let persist into the final months of his term.
